Demon Slayer: BoBoiBoy Galaxy
by Xalerino
Summary: BoBoiBoy finds himself thrust into a world filled with man-eating demons and demon slaying swordsmen. With no indication of how he got here and his power stripped from him, will he be able to live long enough to go back home to his own? [Kimetsu No Yaiba x BoBoiBoy Galaxy] DISCLAIMER: Demon Slayer is owned by Ufotable. BoBoiBoy/Galaxy is owned by Animonsta Studios.
1. Cruelty

He awoke to something cold pressing on his back. The soft sensation were comfortable to his skin. He grabbed what his hand caught on and surprised to see snow on his hand.

"What?" What's more is that he looked around to see he's in a forest, or what looks like a forest as the leaves aren't presented on the trees. He looked behind to discover a snow covered mountain. It took a few tries to get himself back up on his feet due to fatigue from his previous predicament.

"Where in the world am I...?" He crossed his arms as he felt the cold breeze and shivered. He thought back of how he ended up here in the first place. He remembered he decimated Retak'ka into space with the work of his Supra form. The thought still lingered in his tired mind.

He is no shape to be able to walk in this deep snow. He can only use the trees for support and staggering his way to another. The aching feeling in his body wasn't helping and made him slump down to the cold ground.

"Ugh.." BoBoiBoy groaned from the pain. He needed to reach civilization as soon as possible. His earlier pain came back and it was stronger than it was. He really shouldn't have pushed his limits after he unleashed everything at the ancient alien.

He picked himself back up. "Where to go... from here...?"

"More importantly... Where am I?"

He tried remembering where he was. He recalled a landmark with a dam. But the most noticeable thing is that there was no snow. BoBoiBoy thought time had passed and it's already winter but that thought is so farfetched, he pushed the thought away.

Has his friends tried finding him? There's no indication. If they were, he would've heard his name being called several times now. No shouts can be heard in the cold wilderness. Just him, his breathing, and his footsteps.

A thought occurred to him and he brought his wrist up to his face where the power watch use to be.

Well, the watch isn't there anymore.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." He's beginning to panic at the mere fact that his power watch is missing from his wrist. He chalked it up as someone probably stole it. Then again, he highly doubt anyone could've been in these parts of the frozen woods.

BoBoiBoy sighed heavily. He'll need to survive, with or without his power watch. For the first time, he felt really hopeless. Hopeless because he's defenseless and anything can pop out at any given time.

It's good that he has his own wits to depend on. His stamina needs more work despite the amount of training he did with Tok Kasa.

He hold his arm as it continued aching as each step he goes. He really wished he carried some medical items around him at this situation. That would have helped him in the long run. How he was stubborn at first when he declined them in the first place. He regretted not taking them.

He wandered aimlessly for a while until he come across a pathway. He sighed inwardly and trek forward, hoping to reach a place where he can rest.

"Argh!"

His body cannot handle anymore strains. And before he knew it, he crashed into the ground.

* * *

A dark-red haired boy wearing a green and black checkered patterned haori carried a huge sack of charcoal on his back. For that many charcoal, it could've beena difficult task to carry this much. But for him, it's no big deal as he carried it like it was nothing.

His smile turned into a frown as he picked up a scent using his unique sense of smell. It's a scent that meant someone is in danger.

_'Someone's hurt!'_ He picked up his walking pace in search of the person with the kind of scent. He knew that it was someone he doesn'tknow but he can't just leave them injured out here. He'd best find them before night-time comes.

He arrived at the spot where he found the scent. His eyes widen to see a boy in an unusual outfit laying on the ground, motionless. He had no time to scan his unknown outfit.

He rushed over to BoBoiBoy's side. "Are you okay!?"

He received no response from him. He can't just leave him there at this state. He put down his pack of charcoal and carried BoBoiBoy on his back. For him, BoBoiBoy is much lighter than he thought. He picked up his charcoal by carrying it on his front and went on his way to the village, which is his destination.

"You're gonna be alright! Just hang in there for a little while!"

* * *

BoBoiBoy stirred his eyes awake slowly. He snapped them open to realize he's not in the snowy terrain anymore but instead inside of a small house. There's not much inside here except a table and some lights placed on the walls. Although he had no reason to comment on such a small house.

"Ahh good. You're awake." A raspy voice said on the other side of the room. It belong to an old man. He entered the room with a cigar on his hand.

"How are you feeling, boy?" He asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine, mister." BoBoiBoy sat up and fixed the bed he was currently laying on.

He smiled. "Thank you so much for taking care of me."

The old man waved him off. "Don't thank me. Thank the person who saved you."

Now this got BoBoiBoy confused. "It wasn't you? Then who's the person?"

Right on cue, the sliding door opened to reveal a person with a ragged scar on their top left forehead and hanafuda earrings on their ears.

"Tanjiro, you've returned." The old man was relieved to see Tanjiro safe.

"Hey old man Saburo." Tanjiro greeted him. "How is he?"

BoBoiBoy transfixed his eyes to the new boy. He looked foreign based on his clothing and hairstyle. His red eyes are filled with a gentle and pure aura. Something about him makes BoBoiBoy feel at ease around him.

"Oh hey you're awake!" Tanjiro walked over to his side and sat down. "You really had me worried."

"I assume you're the one who found me?" BoBoiBoy asked.

"Yeah!" Tanjiro nodded. "You were in really bad shape and I couldn't leave you out there in the snow like that."

He smiled. "Thank you so much, uhhh..."

"Oh, I'm Tanjiro Kamado. Nice to meet you!" Tanjirou bowed in front of BoBoiBoy as a sign of respect.

"My name's BoBoiBoy. Nice to meet you as well." BoBoiBoy introduced himself as well, earning a smile from the haori wearing boy.

"You two would get along real well. I can tell." Saburo grinned. Both boys looked at each other and chuckled.

* * *

Everyone are eating their meals and drinking their tea. BoBoiBoy appreciates the hospitality he was given as he received more than he should've asked for.

"Thanks for the meal!" The youngsters put their bowls down and drank their tea.

"Hey granddad Saburo, what are demons like?"

BoBoiBoy almost did a spit take on his tea as he heard Tanjiro asking that unexpected question.

"D-Demons?" BoBoiBoy gulped down his drink before he can spit more.

Saburo sighed.

"Man-eating demons have always prowled the land once it gets dark. That's why you should never stroll at night." Saburo said while putting down a bunch of blankets and pillows on the wooden floorboard.

If you're done eating, go to bed. You can set off at home at first light." Saburo ended and fixed the bed set for Tanjiro to sleep in for the night.

BoBoiBoy can't believe what he just heard. There are man-eating demons running around and about? He never expected that to come to reality. He knew Saburo wasn't kidding with what he said based on the level of his tone, it was dark and filled with sadness.

"Demons exist!?" BoBoiBoy's question came out more of a shout.

"Unfortunately, yes. No one knows where they came from, much less from me anyways since I don't care much about demons a long time ago. But when you heard of them, until you see them, then you know that they are real."

"I... I see." BoBoiBoy almost paled at it.

Once they're done with their preparations for the night, both boys went to their respective beds. Tanjiro takes the left one while BoBoiBoy takes the right one.

Tanjiro asked more. "These demons wouldn't come inside of your house, would they?"

"Yes, they'd come in." Saburo puffed a cigar. BoBoiBoy decided to just listen to what they have to say.

"Then, everyone would get eaten up by the demons." Tanjiro said.

Saburo paused, thinking of what he will say next.

"That's why the demon slayers protect us by slaying them. Since way back when."

"Wait, what are demon slayers?" BoBoiBoy became interested with the words.

"Demon slayers are demon-killing swordsmen who protect us from the demons themselves. It's obvious from the name itself so I don't think I can explain this any further." Saburo finished.

"Now lights off, you'll set off in the morning." Saburo turned off the lanterns and laid down in his own bed next to BoBoiBoy's and quickly drifted off into slumber.

BoBoiBoy laid there in his bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. He thought about the recent events that transpired today.

Many questions lingered in his mind.

_'Where even is this place? What are these 'demons' I heard of? Why didn't I have my power watch with me!?'_

These are the most concerning questions. He had no idea what to do at this point. All he can do is hope and pray that all of this is just a bad dream and he'll wake up in a nice, comfy bed.

But to no avail.

BoBoiBoy sighed. It's probably an umpteenth time he sighed this whole day.

_'Okay... Calm down, me. You can get out of this if you pull yourself together.' _He prep talked himself._ 'First off, I need to know where I am and how I will get back. This place feels like Earth but not so Earth-like for some odd reason.'_

He turn to his right and saw Tanjiro peacefully sleeping.

_'Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow. Hopefully he'll tell me everything I want to know.'_

With that final note, BoBoiBoy forced himself to sleep afterwards.

_'Guys, I'll find all of you soon.'_

He slowly raised his head to put his cap down. But to his realization, the cap is no longer on his head. His eyes widen.

_'No way! My cap is missing too!?'_

He gravely stared at the ceiling once again.

_'I guess I'll have to live without my cap then...'_

* * *

Dawn has set in for another day to pass.

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy prepared to trek back into the mountains. BoBoiBoy changed his old outfit into something suitable and comfortable to him since his old one was damaged beyond repair. He's now wearing a black robe and white pants in contrast to Tanjiro's attire and brown boots. Saburo had given him his own haori. It's coloured yellow with little fadings of black on the bottom part of the haori.

He had to say. It's quite comfortable than his previous outfit. Plus, the haori provides some protection from the cold snow outside. He liked this kind of traditional clothing.

"Stay safe you two." Saburo said as he waved the two boys farewell.

"Thanks so much, mister Saburo!" BoBoiBoy thanked him for letting him stayed in his house for the night.

"Are you sure you want to come with me back to the mountains? That's where me and my family resided." Tanjiro asked. Since BoBoiBoy doesn't have anywhere to go, he figured it'd be best to stick around with Tanjiro for a while. After all, he's the one who rescued BoBoiBoy yesterday. The best he can do is to help repay by helping him whatever he needs to be done.

"Yeah, I have no where else to go anyways. I might as well come with you if that's okay."

Tanjiro flailed his hands. "Oh no no! I don't mind being with you. I know you're a nice person so it's okay!"

BoBoiBoy beamed. "Thanks, Tanjiro."

Then, they set off to return to Tanjiro's household, which is close to Saburo's home. While in their travel, BoBoiBoy took a deep breath and couldn't wait to ask Tanjiro some questions that's been on his mind since last night.

"Say, where do you come from, BoBoiBoy?"

Tanjiro asked him first before he did. It's no wonder why he'd ask him that. BoBoiBoy didn't want to lie to him. But he can't tell him of his origins yet. Instead, he tell him this.

"I live in... a city, far away from here."

Tanjiro faced him. "Really? So you lived in Tokyo then? That place is really, really far from here! Do you live somewhere nearby then?"

BoBoiBoy began to sweat. "N-No. I happen to be going somewhere, like a village or something."

His eyebrow was raised. "You're going to a village? It's right over that way. Maybe you're lost and needed some guidance?"

BoBoiBoy quickly replied. "Thanks but I'd rather stick with you for now. I have my reasons of wanting to go with you."

"But why were you injured yesterday?"

He continued lying."Uhmm... I don't really remember. I recall that I fell from a really steep cliff. And that's got me so messed up, I guess."

Tanjiro looked concerned. "Whoa. Well, I'm glad I found you yesterday."

The rest of journey up to the mountain stayed silent for a few minutes.

Not for long, BoBoiBoy stared at the sack on Tanjiro's back. He asked what it was for and why he's carrying it.

"Oh, this? Well, I've been selling charcoal for the New Year's Celebration for everyone so that way, everyone can have a good feast!" Tanjiro answered.

"That's pretty nice of you to do that. But wouldn't it be really heavy for you to carry that much charcoal?"

"Nope. I've been known to carry many heavy stuff in my whole life. So I'm pretty much adapt at anything when it comes to carrying anything that weighs 5 kilograms or so."

"And basically, I've become my family's source of income. We are poor but we manage along just fine and we're contented with it. This is the life we wanted."

BoBoiBoy awed. He wondered how much charcoal he could fit in the sack and he'll still be walking at a normal pace. There are times that BoBoiBoy tends to be amazed at the minor details of what anyone had told him, whether it's important or not. He is amazed to know Tanjiro is a hardworking person to provide so much for his family. He can relate with him and Tok Aba as they're like the only family in Pulau Rintis, helping around each other.

But he can't get sidetracked. He needed answers. Like how he ended up in this world. That's the only conclusion he can come up with. Something—or someone, must have brought him here. All he knew at this point is that he passed out on a rocky terrain, fell off from that said terrain, and that's it.

He still wondered how Tanjiro managed to find him.

"How'd you even find me, Tanjiro?"

He laughed. "I tracked you using my nose."

"Your nose?" BoBoiBoy repeated.

"I have a really great sense of smell since I was born. That's why I'm able to pick up your scent easily."

"Oh okay. That's quite a really neat nose you have there." He ended with a chuckle.

_'It's like a dog's nose to me' _He had no reason to say that out loud, lest he wants to make fun of Tanjiro. After all, he's the one who rescued him from the snow and is leading him back to his home. He'll have to find a way to repay him back for all he's done to him.

Before BoBoiBoy can ask more, Tanjiro sniffed around the area and became alerted all of a sudden.

"A scent of blood!" Tanjiro before he sprinted off into the direction he was going: his own home.

"Huh? Tanjiro! Wait for me!" BoBoiBoy chased after Tanjiro who suddenly ran off. He had a bad feeling about this.

BoBoiBoy caught up to him and saw what he didn't see everyday.

"Nezuko!" He witnessed Tanjiro approaching Nezuko with a worried look. What's very noticeable is that she's covered in blood and lying on the ground with someone around her arm, almost as if she's shielding him from something.

"What happened? What's going on here!?" Tanjiro asked to no one and whipped his head around. He then looked to his left and to his horror, he saw his whole family all covered in blood and all life had drained from their eyes.

Curious enough, BoBoiBoy slowly took a step forward to whatever Tanjiro is seeing right now and immediately almost vomited on sight. He never experience the most gruesome sight he's ever seen in his whole life. Not once did he see people brutally massacred like that in display. The display almost turned in his stomach and he recoiled back.

"Mom... Hanako... Takeo... Shigeru... Nezuko... Rokuta..." Tanjiro stuttered.

"Wh-What in... What in t-the... world...?" BoBoiBoy lost his words to form a sentence.

* * *

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy both ran away from the house while Tanjiro is carrying Nezuko on his back. BoBoiBoy is there to keep an eye on them and at the same time making sure Nezuko doesn't fall off Tanjiro's back.

"Nezuko is still alive! She's still warm! We can still save her!" Tanjiro said in between breaths as he continued carrying Nezuko. Her weight made him stagger a few times but thankfully BoBoiBoy is there to support his balance.

"It's gonna be alright Tanjiro! She'll make it through! Trust me!" BoBoiBoy said as an attempt to instill hope in Tanjiro. He may not know Nezuko but deep inside, BoBoiBoy won't let someone die on his behalf. She's Tanjiro's sister. So if she were to die, Tanjiro would have been devastated.

The heavy snow storm is making it difficult to navigate around. Tanjiro stumbled his footing a bit. BoBoiBoy is having trouble keeping up with a panicked Tanjiro with Nezuko on his back. He wondered how'd it happened back there.

_'Was it a bear? No, a bear shouldn't have been up on a mountains on that night. They are most likely asleep at this day. If that wasn't it, then what was it?'_His ragged breathes can be seen. His lungs are beginning to freeze from the inhalation of the cold air.

_'I can't breathe at this weather! It's so cold! Hopefully, we'll reach a town soon. But can we reach it in time!?'_Still facing forward, he noticed Nezuko waking up from her unconsciousness. But something is off. When she opened her eyes, they felt unusual. Her face had veins popping. She then started to gnarl and looked at Tanjiro, as if she wants to hurt him.

Taking this as a sign of danger, BoBoiBoy warned Tanjiro.

"Tanjiro! Watch—"

Before he can do, they slipped from the creek and are immediately descending down to the snow.

* * *

BoBoiBoy is the first to get up after falling down from the creek.

"Good thing we're saved by the snow. And to think the snow is the reason we slipped."

Tanjiro quickly got up and searched for Nezuko. "Nezuko!? Nezuko!?"

BoBoiBoy helped him search for Nezuko. Shortly after, they found Nezuko unscathed apart from the blood on her head. She appears to be standing in front of a tree with her head hung low, foreshadowing her facial expression.

"Nezuko! There you are! Are you all right!?" Tanjiro asked with worry. "You don't have to walk! I'll carry you to town, okay!?" He approached Nezuko cautiously.

The other just watched. BoBoiBoy knows something is wrong. He watched as Nezuko are making sounds which doesn't sound human.

Her head snapped up to face Tanjiro. Her face features that of a demon. Her eyes had slits for irises. More veins had popped up. She gnarled then pounced on her brother.

"TANJIRO!" BoBoiBoy intervened and tried to pull Nezuko out of Tanjiro. However, Nezuko used her free arm and flung BoBoiBoy to a nearby tree.

"AGGHH!" He hit his head on the tree bark that momentarily stunned him. His vision is beginning to fade.

_'Damnit... If only I had my powers... I would've...'_

Nezuko resumed trying to bite her brother and pinned him to the ground. Tanjiro used his hatchet's handle to repel her bite. Although, she didn't stop as she keeps on trying to lean closer to bite his face off.

_'C'mon! Get up!' _Holding his aching head, BoBoiBoy crawled forward and picked himself up in a crouching position. His head still hurts from the impact he received. Once he's standing up again, he's ready to rush over them.

"Tanjiro! I'm— huh...?" He's surprised to see tears leaked out from Nezuko's eyes, still in mid bite to the hatchet's handle.

_'Did she.. stop? But why...?'_ Many more thoughts are swerving his mind.

_'His sister... turned into a demon?'_

That might be the only suggestion. If Tanjiro DID have a demon sister, she wouldn't have reacted violently against him. That would mean she just recently turned into one. Therefore, who turned her into a demon?

"Hey Tanjiro... I..."

BoBoiBoy gasped as he saw someone running towards them, with a sword in hand.

With quick timing, BoBoiBoy sprinted to them as quickly as possible to avoid them being sliced, but at the cost of cutting off Tanjiro's hair and nearly slicing BoBoiBoy's right eye, leaving a gush of blood to come out.

The sword's slice made a huge vertical shockwave that sent them all flying in different. BoBoiBoy landed on a rough pile of snow while Tanjiro held Nezuko to protect her and he hit the tree on his back.

_'What the...' _Tanjiro faced the unknown person. _'Who's that...?'_

Tanjiro's shaky eyes scanned over his sword which read **DESTROY DEMONS **in kanji. _'A sword?'_

On the pile of snow, BoBoiBoy emerged from the snow and yelped in pain from his injured eye. Fortunately, the cut wasn't as deep as he thought. Although it did left him more blood leaking out.

"Dammit.. It hurts..." He placed his hand on his right eye. The pain stings so much.

He saw a person holding a sword with his other eye. "Who's that?"

"Why are you protecting it?" Tomioka asked with his dull eyes.

"She's my sister! She's my younger sister!" Tanjiro answered.

Nezuko tried to escape Tanjiro's grasp but he wouldn't let her. "Nezuko!"

Tomioka glared. "You call that thing you're sister?"

BoBoiBoy, having heard of that, shouted.

"Of course that's his sister! She's not a demon!" He retorted.

Tomioka whipped his head to face BoBoiBoy.

"Stay out of this." Tomioka warned.

Shortly after that, Tomioka dashed over their location with inhumane speed. Tanjiro saw this and tried to shield Nezuko by ducking down with her. When he felt nothing coming, he opened his eyes to see Nezuko not in his arms anymore.

_'He's so fast!'_

BoBoiBoy wandered his eyes to see where'd they go. He spotted them a few meters away from Tanjiro. Tomioka held Nezuko's arms with his left hand and a sword on his right hand.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro is about to run after them but Tomioka stopped him from doing so.

"Don't move." Tomioka said. Afterwards, a gust of wind picked up and almost making them invisible.

"My job is to slay demons. Needless to say, I'm going to decapitated your sister."

BoBoiBoy paled. "No way... He's going to cut her head off? In front of Tanjiro?"

"Hold on! Nezuko hasn't killed anyone!" Tanjiro tried reasoning with him.

"He's right! She never killed anyone!" BoBoiBoy joined in to defend Tanjiro's statement. Despite not knowing Nezuko, he can clearly tell she's not the type to kill anyone her whole life.

"Back at my house, there was another scent that I'd never smelled before! That's probably the one who killed my family! It wasn't Nezuko!"

"Another scent?" BoBoiBoy said with wonder.

"I don't know why she turned into something like, but... but still..."

Tomioka interrupts him. "It's quite simple. Because her wounds were exposed to demon blood, she turned into a demon. That's how man-eating demons multiply."

"Wait a minute... so this guy is... a demon slayer!?" BoBoiBoy understands now. This information Tomioka said is the same as what Saburo had told Tanjiro except with more detail.

"So Nezuko isn't the one who killed her own family?" He didn't want to think any further from that.

"Nezuko would never eat humans!" Tanjiro declared.

"You gotta be kidding me." Tomioka deadpanned. "Just now, you were about to be devoured."

"You're wrong! I'm sure she knows who I am!"

"Nezuko would never kill her brother! She is still human deep inside!" BoBoiBoy defended.

"He's right! And I won't let her hurt anyone! I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human! I swear I'll heal her!" His desperate cries didn't change Tomioka's opinion.

"She can't be healed." He said. "Once you become a demon, you can never go back to being a human."

Tanjiro spread his arms as a more desperate attempt to persuade him. "I'll find a way no matter what! So, please..."

"So, please don't kill her!"

"Tanjiro..." BoBoiBoy muttered. His bond with Nezuko is so genuine that he'd risk himself to find a way to cure her. His respect for him grew.

"I'll hunt down the one who slaughted my family! I'll make everything all right! Please!"

Tomioka slowly brought his blade up near Nezuko's neck, ready for decapitation.

"Don't do it!" Tanjiro cried out.

"No! Please! You don't have to do this! He'll find a way to cure his sister! You can trust him on that! Please, don't take his family away from him!" BoBoiBoy almost cried out. He already felt bad and sorry for Tanjiro. Both of them are in a life and death situation with Tanjiro's surviving family member about to be murdered in front of Tanjiro.

Tanjiro crouched down on both knees and pleaded. "I'm begging you not to! Please, don't kill my little sister! Please don't do it!"

He's cried are now heard. "I'm begging you..."

BoBoiBoy stood tall and faced Tomioka with a sympathetic face. "Please, release his little sister. Release Nezuko. She doesn't deserve any of this."

Tomioka saw this spectacle and crunched his teeth.

"Don't ever give others a chance to murder you!"

His outburst caught them off guard.

"Stop that pathetic groveling! If it was the least bit effective, your family wouldn't be dead!"

Tanjiro rose from his position to face Tomioka.

"Can a weakling who can't take the initiative in such a situation heal his sister?! Much less hunt down the enemy?!"

BoBoiBoy hung his head low.

"Don't make me laugh! The weak have no rights or choices! Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong!

"The demons might know how to cure you're sister! But don't think that a demon would respect your will or wishes!"

"Naturally, I have no respect for both of you, either! That's reality! Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier?"

He looked at BoBoiBoy. "Why did you still get in harm's way for the purpose of me killing her!?"

"Were those your ways of protecting her!?" He looked back at Tanjiro. "Why didn't you swing your hatchet?! Why did you show your back to me?! All those blunders led to your sister's capture! I could've skewered her along with both of you!"

Those words alone are enough to feel the inside rage of BoBoiBoy to ignite once again. Smoke can be seen escaping his mouth.

He brought his blade up.

"No!"

And stabbed her.

"Stop!"

Tanjiro threw a rock he had in his hand but Tomioka blocked it with his blade.

_'A futile attempt.'_

Another gust of wind came and blocked his vision.

What he didn't expect is that BoBoiBoy got up in his face and punched him, sending him skidding a few yards back.

_'Ugh! What the— when did he get so fast?'_

BoBoiBoy, ignoring the pain from his right eye, threw more punches, this time even faster like the speed of lightning. Tomioka kept dodging the attacks while simultaneously holding Nezuko's arms to keep her from being rampant. Despite a lot of tries to evade, BoBoiBoy landed some damage on Tomioka but it is not enough to release Nezuko.

Later on, BoBoiBoy stopped moving and knelt down on one knee. He's breathing so fast, he sounds like he's hyperventilating.

Tomioka thought this is over but he forgot about Tanjiro throwing him with another rock that aims for his face. He dodged it effortlessly, however, and Tanjiro sprinted to attack Tomioka head on.

_'A straight-forward attack driven solely by emotion...' _He thought.

"You fool!" Tomioka bashed Tanjiro's back with his blade's handle and knocked him out. Nezuko looked at her brother with a worried look.

_'Where's his hatchet?'_

He gasped as he looked at someone in midair, hatchet in hand. BoBoiBoy brought it down next to his face and glared at him.

"Don't... underestimate... Tanjiro and... me..." BoBoiBoy backed away from Tomioka and checked on Tanjiro to see if he's alright.

_'Just before the other boy hid behind the tree, he hurled that rock towards me, and at the same time tossed the hatchet in air. The other one caught it in no time and almost hit me in the end.'_

_'He hid his hands as he predicted to attack, so I wouldn't realize that he was unarmed.'_

_'He knew he couldn't beat me, except the other boy. He tried to beat me down after I struck him. And that boy, he moved so fast after the gust of wind flew by. He must have a breathing technique to be able to move that fast. His punches hurt more than I can imagine. These kids...'_

His distraction made him flying across the area by Nezuko's kick. She's approaching the two boys.

"Nghh. ." BoBoiBoy braced himself for what Nezuko is about to do to them. To his shock, she didn't attack him or Tanjiro but instead put on a defensive stance to protect them. Even Tomioka's eyes widen in surprise from seeing this act.

"N-Nezuko...?" She didn't listen to BoBoiBoy as she kept growling at Tomioka.

_'Nezuko, it wasn't Nezuko! She'll never eat humans!' _Tanjiro's thought boomed in Tomioka's mind.

Nezuko ran to attack Tomioka. Tomioka didn't have fight back and instead blocking and evading her attacks.

_'Long ago, someone said the same thing only to be devoured by a demon. When a demon is starving, it will kill and devour even its own parents and siblings. Because they're nutrient-rich. I've seen it happen more times than I can count.'_

_'This girl has been wounded, and she's expending her energy to heal those injuries. She must've drained various amounts of her strength as she transformed into a demon.'_

_'That means she's severely starved at this moment, without a doubt. She must've feasted on a human right away, even if it's her own brother or her friend.'_

_'Yet, she protected them instead. And she's even intimidated me. I wonder, these siblings might be...'_

Tomioka used his hand to chop Nezuko's neck, rendering her unconscious.

_'...different from others.'_

"Nezuko!" BoBoiBoy yelled after her when he saw Tomioka did that to her. However, he didn't kill her with that. He just knocked her out like he did to Tanjiro.

"..." Tomioka stared at the recently turned Kamado demon. He knew it's his job to slay a demon. But something tells him that it's going to be problematic than he thinks. He turned to look at the yellow haori boy, tending to Tanjiro.

He pulls something out of his haori. "Hey kid, take this."

It's a muzzle, a bamboo stick designed for a demon if a demon slayer captures it for personal reasons. BoBoiBoy cautiously took the muzzle gifted by Tomioka.

"Uhmm thanks? What's this for?" BoBoiBoy asked.

"Wrap it around her mouth. That way, she will not bite anyone ever."

BoBoiBoy did as he was told before he would talk back to the older person. He may have stood up to him earlier but this time he's afraid of talking back to the person who can move faster than a blur.

"It's done." BoBoiBoy said as he carefully wrapped the muzzle around her mouth.

Tomioka stood still, gathering his thoughts on what to do. BoBoiBoy stared at him and back to Nezuko with a muzzle on her mouth now.

"Are you sure about this? What if she—"

He's silenced immediately by his grave look on his face. He recoiled back and shut his mouth.

"When that boy over there wakes up, tell him to go find an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri. Tell him that Giyu Tomioka sent you both."

He gazed his eyes on Nezuko. "She seems to be all right since it's cloudy now. But never let her be exposed in the sunlight, okay?" Tomioka finished and is beginning to walk away from them.

"Wait!"

Tomioka heard and stopped but didn't turn around.

"Listen uhmm... Thank you... If it wasn't for you, Tanjiro would've... he..." He forget what he was about to say because of so much that had happened.

BoBoiBoy didn't receive anything except silence wafted in the cold air. But he'll take it as a sign of gratitude for staying for a little bit to listen to him. The swordsman walked and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

* * *

Albeit being knocked out by Tomioka, Tanjiro is now surrounded with his deceased siblings and his deceased mom.

_'I'm sorry to leave you behind, Tanjiro.' His mother, Kie Kamado, said with sadness._

_'Take care of Nezuko for me, alright?' She whispered._

_'And also, get along with your friend. You'll be helping each other along the way.'_

Tanjiro woke by him gripping on something made of fabric. He looked to see Nezuko, still in the flesh and well despite the bamboo on her mouth. He grabbed her and embraced her.

"Oh good, you're awake." Said a familiar voice.

"B-BoBoiBoy...?" Tanjiro asked.

"Yeah, it's me." He beamed a smile at him.

* * *

The scene changes with the remaining Kamado siblings and BoBoiBoy on their family's gravestones. Both Nezuko and BoBoiBoy stood behind Tanjiro as he knelt and pray for their souls.

_'Poor Tanjiro... He's been through a lot today...' _He affixed a sad look directed to Tanjiro. Nezuko has her neutral look on her.

_'I have to say, she does look pretty with that look. But the bamboo just made her look cute.' _He stared at Nezuko for a while while appreciating her looks. Tanjiro stood, done with praying for his deceased family members.

"Let's go." Tanjiro said and held Nezuko's hand and begins to walk away from the tombstones. Tanjiro looked back once again for the last time before they left.

And now, the trio are set off into a journey of finding Sakonji Urokodaki on Mt. Sagiri. After BoBoiBoy filled him in with the details of where to go thanks to Tomioka, Tanjiro now has a goal in mind: Turning Nezuko back into a human and avenging his family.

Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy will be setting off with them. Since he'll be stuck for a little while, he can't leave Tanjiro in this alone. The best he can do is to provide support for him as he had no one left but his demon sister.

It's only going to be a matter of time when things start to turn for the better for BoBoiBoy and the Kamado siblings.

* * *

**Another story in the mix, and this time, more BoBoiBoy, and with another mix, Demon Slayer, and what does it mix into? A flippin' crxssover!**

**You may be wondering how BBB ended up in the Demon Slayer universe, Taishō Era? Well, we'll just have to wait and see for the future chapters. And for his powers, I removed them. But instead, it's gonna come out as different for him so get ready for a fantastic adventure with our favorite protagonists.**

**Hope you fellow readers enjoyed this one. I'll see you all in the next chapter. :)**


	2. Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

The trip to Mt. Sagiri takes a bit longer than they should've since they travel on foot. BoBoiBoy wondered why there were no types of transportation in this world. Tanjiro did mention a city called Tokyo. So maybe this world is a bit a Taishō Era to what he heard from Tanjiro himself. He and Tanjiro talked about various things whilst on their travel. The more they talked, the more information BoBoiBoy gained and learned some traditions as a bonus.

_'This world is filled with demons, and there are these swordsmen called Demon Slayers. Maybe Mr. Tomioka is planning to make us visit Mr. Urokodaki for training to become Demon Slayers? It could be the case.'_

BoBoiBoy also gave an advice to Tanjiro to create a basket for Nezuko in order for them to navigate around daytime. Tanjiro seems to like the idea and is contented with it.

They took a quick stop on a mountain with a mini cave placed in it. Tanjiro told BoBoiBoy to stay and keep an eye on Nezuko while he go grab some materials to create a basket for Nezuko.

"I trust you'll keep an eye on Nezuko for me while I'm going out to get some stuff?" Tanjiro said another time to make sure BoBoiBoy gets the picture.

"What do you think? My other eye is wounded." He pointed to his right eye, wrapped in some clean cloth.

Tanjiro stuttered his words and apologized.

"Heh. Don't worry. I can guarantee you that." BoBoiBoy flashed him a thumbs up. Tanjiro smiled and leaves the area in search for the materials.

"Okay Nezuko. You heard your brother. I'm your babysitter for today!" He put on act like he's a professional sitter or something by putting his arms on his hips. Nezuko, inside of the cave, just tilted her head in confusion, not knowing what he meant by that.

"Uhh.. Okay..." He sweatdropped. "Well, what else can you do, Nezuko? Besides... just standing there?"

Nezuko "hmphed" as a response. BoBoiBoy find it oddly cute of how Nezuko communicates like that. She's like a pet. Taking her time to look around, she strolled around the cave until she bump her foot into a mound of dirt.

"Is there something under there?" BoBoiBoy walked beside her and poked the dirt with his boot. "It doesn't look like anything is under there. What's important about that?"

He thought of something and he gleamed his eyes. "You found some treasure under there? Oh man, I can't wait if we dig this out right now, we can—"

Nezuko beat him to it by furiously digging the hole with her hands and plopped herself down like a mole.

"...or maybe not." He sweatdropped once again. "Nezuko may be a demon but she's acting all weird and not... acting like a human anymore."

"Even if she is a human both heart and soul, I wish I can hear her say something." BoBoiBoy walked back outside of the cave and took in some fresh air to calm himself. He leaned against the cave's interior walls and crossed his arms and going deep in his thoughts.

It's been roughly several hours since they set off from Tanjiro's home to their destination, namely Mt. Sagiri. He never knew that place considering he never been to Japan or any part of this continent before. Now that he thinks about it, is this even remotely Earth or an alternate version of it? He never got his answer when he asked Tanjiro that. The latter was confused to what he said but BoBoiBoy quickly shrugges it off as a joke and laughed it off awkwardly.

"Am I really stuck here forever? Am I never see my friends and family again...?" His throat began to act up. He's on the verge of crying as tears are almost breaking his barriers. Nezuko peeked her head up to see BoBoiBoy choked up in his own little despair. She wondered why he's crying based on her pink eyes. She never knew this boy before. She seen him hanging around with Tanjiro ever since after their encounter with Tomioka.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice yelling his name. It sounds distant but it's getting closer. Tanjiro came back with a basket full of holes, some bamboo, strings, and a big piece of cloth.

"Is Nezuko safe? Is she inside the cave? Did you keep an eye on her!?" Tanjiro bombarded him with questions. Paranoia is present on Tanjiro as he kept asking BoBoiBoy if Nezuko is safe.

"Yeah... she's safe." BoBoiBoy said in a low tone. It didn't take a moment's notice to see how red-eyed BoBoiBoy is right now judging from his left eye and stray tears left from it.

"Hey uhh... Are you all right?" Tanjiro asked, feeling genuinely concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah... I'm okay." BoBoiBoy mentally kicked himself for not hiding his face from Tanjiro.

"Listen, you can talk to me if you're not feeling good and from the looks of it—"

"I said I'm fine, Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy said firmly. "It's just... I was thinking of things back home and I'm not in a mood to talk about it. So please, drop it."

He can tell that he is serious. Tanjiro didn't what he had gone through but know deep inside he probably had it worse than he did. Afterwards, he pursed his lips.

"Nezuko's inside the cave, safe and sound." BoBoiBoy forced himself a smile, hiding his insecurities welling up by the thought of never going home again.

He looked inside the cave to see if he's right and to his relief, Nezuko showed her head, which is a sign of comfort for Tanjiro.

"Thanks BoBoiBoy." He relieved a sigh and thanked BoBoiBoy. He soon got to work on making a basket for Nezuko. BoBoiBoy helped him out with that. He knew a thing or two of craftsmanship based on Solar's knowledge. The process of making the basket is finished and Tanjiro is satisfied with the outcome.

"It looks better than I expected. Thanks for helping me out." He flashed a grin at BoBoiBoy. Tanjiro brought the basket inside the cave and BoBoiBoy followed after him.

"Nezuko? Think you can fit in here?" He said. "I want to keep moving during daylight too."

The yellow haori boy checked the fabric of the cloth to see if it's thick to cover the sunlight.

"Hey Tanjiro, you sure you picked a really thick cloth right?" BoBoiBoy asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. As thick as sheep's wool. But I didn't ask if this is really thick or not so I just took it."

"Where'd you even find these materials anyway?" He wondered to where he got these stuff from.

"Good question, I got these from the farmers near here. I ask to borrow some and they handed over to me for free."

He smirked. "For free, huh?"

Tanjiro smile didn't falter. "But I insisted to pay for these because it's gonna be wasted soon and I don't want the farmers to feel like I'm using their resources as a waste. After all, they worked hard for these so I must pay them for caring their items."

BoBoiBoy stared at him for a few seconds.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Tanjiro checked to see if there's anything on his face but nothing is there.

"So you stubbornly handed them money when they asked you to take it for free? Quite an act, if you tell me." He laughed.

"Hahahaha! I know." Tanjiro chuckled. "But seriously, that's just who I am. I don't want stuff for free."

"But you gotta know that it is pretty rare to find anyone giving you your needs for free. You should accept it when it happens again." He advised the other Kamado sibling.

"I'll keep note to that." He said. "But for now, Nezuko."

He positioned the basket near her face. "I'll carry you, okay? Can you fit? Basket?" He pointed at the basket like trainer do to its dog. As instructed, Nezuko got out from her hole and went head in first in the basket with her legs still on the outside.

"Pppffttt!" Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy is trying so hard not to laugh in front of the scene in front of him but it didn't work as he bursts out laughing.

"She kinda protrudes, huh?" He muttered under his breath. "I can't believe she grew up! Seems like yesterday that she was tiny."

BoBoiBoy is now done laughing and getting back to business. "Hey Tanjiro, remember when she turned bigger like an adult earlier? Do you think she can do the opposite? Like getting smaller?"

His ears perked up with the idea BoBoiBoy gave out. "Let's try!"

"Smaller Nezuko! Get smaller!" Tanjiro patted Nezuko's back. Nezuko moved her by flipping the basket back to its standing position and her body shrunk down to meet the size of the basket. It's a perfect fit as she is now sitting in it completely.

Both boys awed.

"Good job! That's a good girl, Nezuko!" Tanjiro praised while rubbing Nezuko's head like a cute little puppy.

_'They look so pure and happy despite what happened hours ago.' _BoBoiBoy couldn't get rid of his smile off of his face. It stayed there until they set off again to their destination.

_'But unlike me... I have nowhere I can go. If I'm forever stuck here, I might as well make the best I can for these siblings... and for myself.'_ He ended in a solemn note.

* * *

"Mt. Sagiri? If you want to go to Mt. Sagiri, you'll have to cross over that mountain but..." A random lady looked at Tanjiro's basket, not knowing inside was Nezuko. "The sun is about to set. Are you really heading there with all that luggage? It's dangerous you know."

"She's right Tanjiro. Maybe we should settle in for the night at her place if that's okay with her." BoBoiBoy suggested. It's better to be safe than sorry because he remembered what Saburo said that demons are lurking around at night time. Tanjiro seems to have forgotten this and declined.

"We'll be fine. Thank you very much." Tanjiro replied as he and BoBoiBoy are moving away from them.

"Tanjiro, I don't think—"

"People have gone missing lately! Try not to lose your way!" The lady yelled at them and Tanjiro only waved back to the random lady.

However, the other boy gulped at the sound of that. "People have gone missing...? Lately...? Tanjiro, maybe we should've stayed with her for at least one night."

Tanjiro looked optimistic. "We're going to be fine. Nothing can come to us if we stay on this path. We'll be okay."

There's a clear contradiction in those words but BoBoiBoy chose to believe him otherwise. "I guess so."

Night time has come. Tanjiro had let out Nezuko in his basket and her size regrew back to her original height. BoBoiBoy is still baffled at this revelation but he'd seen lots of surprising stuff lately in his whole life as a TAPOPS member.

They ventured into the dark forest until they stumbled upon a temple on their way to Mt. Sagiri.

"There's a temple over there. There's light leaking through so someone must be in there." Tanjiro said as he and Nezuko are making their way to the temple.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." BoBoiBoy stayed behind and went after them. What surprised him is that Tanjiro and Nezuko hurriedly went upstairs to the temple. BoBoiBoy soon followed their pace and is greeted with a disgusting sight.

More lifeless bodies were in sight and two demons are seen eating the fresh corpses of their victims. Tanjiro dropped the basket and to their horror, the demons heard the sound and turned around to lookat them with bloodlust in their eyes.

"This is our turf. If you break into our territory, we'll make you pay." The demon eating an arm warned to the humans—slash—demon at the entrance.

_'They're demons! They're eating dead people!'_ BoBoiBoy almost wanted to puke when the putrid stench entered his nostrils.

The demon Kamado sibling had her sights set at the blood and the unfortunate dead people. Her stomach started to emit growling noises and her mouth started to water despite the bamboo covering it up.

"There's something off about you. Are you all humans?" The demon with a weird hairstyle asked. And before they knew it, the two demons lashed out on them but the two humans blocked their attacks with their hatchets in hand. BoBoiBoy sliced the demon's hand and Tanjiro slashes the other one.

"A hatchet, huh? Not bad. But a scratch like this... should heal in no time." TheThe injured part of the demon's body healed with no time's spare. "See that? The bleeding stopped."

"Hey, I'll take the other brat, you get the fresh meat. Sounds fair to you?" The other demon asked his acquaintance.

"Fine, I'm dying for another meal!"

* * *

The demon went after Tanjiro. He disappeared until he pounced on Tanjiro, making him fall into the ground the demon restrained him.

"Tanjiro! Huh!?" The other demon blocked their way.

"You're my next meal!" The demon ran towards BoBoiBoy. The latter quickly side step to avoid getting slashed by his claws. The demon went for another slash but BoBoiBoy narrowly avoided the slash. It sliced off his bandaged eye, revealing his right eye with a scar that ran over it.

"Damn! You have a wound!? Then you're tainted meat!" The demon violently lashed out on BoBoiBoy. He blocked every one of his attacks but they were just too powerful and fast to block.

_'He's an out of control powerhouse! I can't see a way to hit him at this rate!'_

He kicked the demon away as it was about to bite his head with his huge gaping mouth. He grew even angrier and rushed over to him with more speed.

_'There has to be a way to beat this guy! Grr! I can't block any more of his attacks!'_

With one mighty attack from demon, BoBoiBoy was then hurled over to behind the temple.

"Now you've gone and made me pissed off! I'll rip your insides one by one!" The demon isn't done yet.

The adrenaline kicked in and BoBoiBoy's mouth started to spew out smoke.

_'My body suddenly felt lighter! What is this?'_

The demon prepared his demon like claws to graze BoBoiBoy. However, BoBoiBoy disappeared in a blink of an eye, much to the surprise of the demon.

"What the!? Where did he go!?" His eyes scanned across the area of where the yellow haori boy went to. He felt pain as his arm got sliced off by something.

"Take this!" BoBoiBoy used his hatchet to slice off the demon's limbs one by one until it's body is longer attached to his head.

Unfortunately, BoBoiBoy made a mistake and stopped to grasp for air. His eyes are almost about to burst. He clutched his chest so hard, he almost ripped out his own robe off.

_'What's... going on? I... can't... breathe...!' _

"You bastard, I'll get you for this!" The demon's head somehow regrow his arms and went over to BoBoiBoy and beginning to choke his neck.

"I'll break your neck so hard, it'll turn into a twig!"

_'Ughh.. I... can't... get... him... off... me...!' _BoBoiBoy thought as his eyes rolled at the back of his head.

Suddenly, a really hard kick sent the demon's head flying to the woods that leads to a deep cliff. Nezuko swooped in to save BoBoiBoy from suffocating. The headless body ran after its head but it got lost and fell off the cliff, thus killing it instantly.

"Thanks... ***cough* **Nezuko..." He coughed up some saliva from having his windpipe almost crushed from the demon's death grip. "Where's... ***gasp***... Tanjiro?"

Nezuko directed her head to the side of the temple, where Tanjiro is seen near the demon's head. He drew a knife and was ready to kill the demon.

"BoBoiBoy, you're okay!" Tanjiro is relieved to see his friend alright. "Thanks Nezuko, for helping him."

Nezuko closed her eyes and "hmphed" like saying _'you're welcome!'_

Tanjiro's smile turned into a frown, however, and turned his attention back to the demon's head with arms growing out of it.

"I wonder if there are tons of demons out there."

BoBoiBoy replied. "If you're asking me, I'd say a lot. We just ran into these guys." Clearly, there are still more out there."

"This demon... This isn't the scent that was lingering in my house. That was a different demon..." Tanjiro said.

"But... I gotta finish him off or he'll attack more people!" He said as he prepared his knife and stab it through his head

_'Tanjiro is hesitating. He's really nervous to kill someone even to afraid to kill a demon.' _BoBoiBoy thought as he watched Tanjiro breathing rapidly. Nezuko only watched her brother neutrally.

Tanjiro is shaking with fear. His grip on the knife's handle loosened. He never thought he would try to kill a living being. Before he could do it, somebody's hand tapped his right shoulder and made him stop completely. He gasped as he turned around to meet a person with a red goblin mask.

_'Wh-Who is this guy!? I didn't hear him coming!' _BoBoiBoy widened his eyes. How can anyone went up to Tanjiro as silently as a cat like that?

"You can't finish him off with that." A raspy old voice of the mysterious person said to the knife wielder.

"H-How can I finish him off?" Tanjiro asked.

"Don't ask me! Can't you use your own head to figure that out?" He coldly said. "And you, don't even try to help him. Let him figure it out on his own."

BoBoiBoy was about to argue back but he kept his mouth shut because of how serious he sounded. He had no choice but to stay out of it and let Tanjiro decide on what to do with the demon.

_'If stabbing's no good...' _He looked at his side to find a rock placed on the solid ground. _'...I'll have to crush his head!_

He watched as Tanjiro went over to the rock and picked up the heavy rock. He's standing in front of the demon's head but still hesitated to kill him.

_'Tanjiro... you're scared, aren't you? Scared because this is your first time killing a person, isn't it?' _

He watched him with worried eyes. BoBoiBoy sees Tanjiro as a pacifist. He can never kill a living person, even if it's a demon.

_'This kid isn't going to cut it.' _The masked man said as he smell Tanjiro's scent while thinking.

_'He's too kind and can't make any decisions. He's facing a demon, yet the scent of kindness remains. He has empathy for even a demon.'_

He swerved his head and smell BoBoiBoy's scent.

_'This kid, however, exudes a scent that I never picked up before. He faced many people such as this one before but his kindness still remained. He's more than meets the eye. Although, he's weak and can't decide well enough like this boy here.'_

_'__Giyu... They're never going to make it.'_

* * *

The demon's head suddenly jolts awake. _'I blacked out. Is my body dead, then?'_

He feels his head as he can't think well. _'I feel sick!' _He brought his eyes forward and met Tanjiro's

"You bastard, I'll kill you! I swear I'll devour you! Get over here! Dammit! I can't go to you, so you come to me!"

Tanjiro faltered for too long and the sun is coming on the horizon. While the demon was talking in the background, the sun's rays covered the demon and slowly burnt into ashes. His pain of agony were gone as he is now evaporated into nothing but ash.

Tanjiro dropped the rock and looked with a terrified face. BoBoiBoy is also in the same state.

_'He's gone with that much sunlight?! No wonder Nezuko shrinks from it!'_

He gasped and realized BoBoiBoy and Nezuko aren't anywhere with him. "Nezuko? Nezuko!? BoBoiBoy!?"

He shouted out for their names. BoBoiBoy came out from the temple and called out to Tanjiro. He hurriedly rush over to the temple. He looked inside and to his sweet relief, Nezuko is inside the basket with a big piece of cloth on her head.

"Hhhhhmmmm..." Nezuko mumbled as she tried to be comfortable and be less exposed to the sunlight as much as possible.

"Nezuko..." He looked at her with happiness.

"I brought her here after I remembered that she can't be exposed to the sun. Good thing she did just that." BoBoiBoy let out a breath and was tackled by hug courtesy by Tanjiro.

"Thank you BoBoiBoy... Thank you..." He said it many times. BoBoiBoy patted him on the back.

"Hey, you're welcome." Tanjiro let him go from the hug. "Hey, is he still here? The masked guy?"

"O-Oh, that's right. Where is that man?" The boys walked to the side of the temple to find the man kneeling and praying on the gravestones.

"He buried the people who got killed." BoBoiBoy whispered. Tanjiro approached the praying man.

"Um..." He tries to start a conversation. The man got up after he's done praying for the unfortunate souls.

"I'm Sakonji Urokodaki." The man had introduced his name to the boys.

"It's... It's him! We found him, Tanjiro!" BoBoiBoy cheered slightly.

"I'm assuming you two were the ones Giyu Tomioka sent my way."

"Yes! My name is Tanjiro Kamado. My sister's name is Nezuko!" Tanjiro said his name.

"And my name is BoBoiBoy! I'm Tanjiro's friend!" BoBoiBoy followed.

"Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy..." He turned around. "What will you two do when she devours a human?"

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy gasped at the sudden question. They took too long to answer because of it. Urokodaki stepped forward in front of them and slapped them across their faces.

"W-What...?" BoBoiBoy held his cheek and felt the burn of the slap.

"Too slow!" He sounded disappointed. "You two are too slow at making decisions! You failed to finish off that demon before daybreak! Do you both know why both of you couldn't answer my question right away?"

"W-Why?" It was a mistake to ask the question when Urokodaki slapped BoBoiBoy on the face a second time.

"It's because your resolve is too weak!" BoBoiBoy can't see it but he can feel the glare of Urokodaki piercing through his goblin mask.

He faced Tanjiro. "There are two things to do if your sister devours a human: Kill your sister and slit your own belly and die!"

They both looked on terrified faces after they heard of what Urokodaki said.

"That's what it means to travel with your sister who became a demon! But that must never happen no matter what. And you'd best not forget. Your sister, taking the life of an innocent person... That's the one thing that must never happen. Ever!"

He looked to the side. "Do you both understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes!" They responded quickly.

"All right, now I'm going to test you both to see if both of you are fit to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."

Urokodaki casted one look on Tanjiro. "Carry your sister on your back and follow me!"

* * *

The scene changes showing Tanjiro, with the basket behind his back, and BoBoiBoy keeping up with Tanjiro's pace. Urokodaki ran in front of them despite he's age and form.

"He's really quick! How can he run so fast!?" BoBoiBoy said in between breaths. He noticed that when Urokodaki is running, no footsteps can be heard.

_'Is there a secret in making his footsteps quiet? '_

Tanjiro tries his best to run despite Urokodaki's speed. His breaths are loud and his movements are beginning to grow sluggish.

His thoughts ran over to Nezuko, a flashback between him and Nezuko fixing up her kimono.

_'Nezuko... all of your life, you're fixing your kimono again? I guess we'll have to buy you a new one.'_

_'No, no, it's all right! This kimono's my __favorite! I've rather the younger kids got more food to fill them up.' Human Nezuko said with a pure smile on her face._

_'I swear I'll turn you back into a human! I swear I'll buy you a beautiful kimono someday! Everything that I can't do to others, I'll do it all for you!'_

Hours have passed and they all arrived in Mt. Sagiri, where Urokodaki lived in. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy stopped to gather their breath after a long run.

"N-Now, have we... passed the test?" Tanjiro said as he inhaled and exhaled a whole bunch.

"Please... tell me... did... we do... it?" BoBoiBoy followed up while slumped down on the ground after running up the mountain. To him, it's like going on a marathon across the entire country. His legs feel like jelly.

Urokodaki opened the sliding door and removed his hood that covered his hair. "The test starts now. We're going to climb a mountain."

Tanjiro did a dramatic gasped while BoBoiBoy almost fainted after hearing that.

"I'll make sure to take care of your sister for you."

Tanjiro put Nezuko down on the floorboards. "I'm counting on you, sir."

"But still, w-we're g-going to cl-climb up t-that mountain?" BoBoiBoy shakily pointed his finger up that mountain behind Urokodaki's home.

"Of course. That is where the test begins. Now, prepare yourselves and come outside when you're done."

The sun had gone down as they hiked up on the mountain. Urokodaki had led them into a dense forest.

"So... tired..." BoBoiBoy said without having to think. "Need... water..."

"I'm so exhausted... My legs are starting to buckle. I'm starting to feel dizzy, too..." Tanjiro muttered as they continued to follow Urokodaki.

Later, they stopped when Urokodaki stopped walking and turned to them. "Now, from here, go back down to the house at the foot of the mountain. This time, I'm not going to wait until daybreak!"

He finished as Urokodaki suddenly vanished in their line of sights. This leaves them alone on the mountain.

"Is that all?" BoBoiBoy asked. "I see. He thinks we might get lost in this thick fog."

Tanjiro nodded. "I've been thinking the same too. We just have to get back by daybreak, right?"

BoBoiBoy grinned. "Yeah! This is gonna be easy! Plus, you said you have a great sense of smell, right? Did you happen to get Mr. Urokodaki's scent?"

"That's right! I've already memorized Mr. Urokodaki's scent! Just follow me and we'll get back before morning!"

Tanjiro takes the lead by running down on the mountain followed by BoBoiBoy. But when Tanjiro kept on running, he tripped on a rope and stopped. BoBoiBoy didn't see the rope and stumbled on it as well.

"What happened? Why'd you stop?" He didn't have time to register something that are coming his way. Without any warning, small rocks were hurled at them.

"Rocks!?" Tanjiro lost his balance and tripped on a pitfall. The impact made all the crows in the forest fly away from the startled noise.

_'A pitfall?'_

BoBoiBoy stared down at the pitfall and extended his hand. "Grab on!"

Tanjiro gladly took his hand and he pulled him out of the pitfall.

"Be careful, Tanjiro. There are traps in this forest!" He didn't notice that he stepped on another rope and a log came out of nowhere and struck him down on the pitfall.

"BoBoiBoy!" Tanjiro helped him up and out of the pitfall. He wobbled a bit but was able to regain his balance.

_'Crap, crap, crap! If we keep walking into traps like this, we won't make it back down the mountain by morning!'_

_'And besides, this mountain... This mountain is...'_

They both found themselves breathing at a fast rate. "The air... is so... thin here...!"

BoBoiBoy feels like he's head is about to explode from the lack of oxygen not entering his head. _'This is not good! With no air around here, it's making us feel dizzy!'_

"BoBoiBoy!" He snapped his head around as he hears his name. "We gotta make it! Take control of your breathing, and follow me!"

_'Take control... of my breathing?'_

"Let's go!" Tanjiro takes the initiative and ran down. He tries to follow after him.

_'I'm not sure what he meant by taking control of my breathing. Is it because he knows something about this?'_

He witnessed Tanjiro pause on his running and concentrated on his sense of smell.

_'Is he trying to sense where the traps may be by indicating their scent?' _He looked on with wonder and interest.

_'I wonder... if I can do that.'_

BoBoiBoy took a deep breathe and closed his eyes. He then tried to focus by balancing his breathing. He didn't feel anything at first, but he can definitely feel some movements shaking on his right side, identified the sound of the moving log located on his left, as soon as he opened his eyes, he experienced not only temporary tunnel vision but he can see some odd objects placed in the dark forest.

_'I can feel them!'_

Both of them ran down the mountain with no intention of stopping. Tanjiro narrowly avoided some of the traps but still gets hit by several bamboo traps laid by Urokodaki. BoBoiBoy, somehow, managed to avoid every last one of them with his heightened sense being controlled by his breathing. Although, he didn't avoid everything as some of his senses left him and was left with his hearing senses active. He paid attention to the sounds of the traps being activated in any direction and shifted his body so that he can evade them with his athletics.

_'I almost got caught with some of them, but my sense of hearing didn't fail me! Thanks to that, I can pinpoint the trap's sounds and can predict where they will strike at any opportune time!'_

_'As for Tanjiro, he has his great sense of smell. But as for me, I somehow got good sense of hearing! Is this what happens when I get my breathing right? Maybe that's the technique!'_

The scene changes with Nezuko, still sleeping inside Urokodaki's house along with Urokodaki himself, who are waiting for the duo's return from the test. He looked out his window to see it is almost daybreak and heard footsteps as he finally tucked in Nezuko.

He was quite surprised to Tanjiro, battered up, bruised, and blood on his forehead, survived the test. Behind him is the other yellow haori wearing boy, also in the same state as him.

"I... have... returned." Tanjiro breathed harshly and passed out from exhaustion on the door frame.

"That... was... awesome..." BoBoiBoy did his signature catchphrase and passed out beside Tanjiro.

Urokodaki stared them. He never expected them to miraculously survive his traps on the mountain with thin air. He recalled to what Tomioka had said via letter given by his crow.

_'Forgive my abruptness, Mr. Sakonji Urokodaki. I'm sending two boys your way who wanted to become Demon Slayer swordsmen. They were brazen enough to attack me unarmed. Tanjiro's family was slaughtered by a demon and the surviving younger sister has become one but I have determined that she will not attack humans. As for the boy in a yellow haori, I am unable to identify his background but he is suppose to be Tanjiro's friend he met not long ago.'_

_'I can sense something different about these three. Like yourself, Tanjiro seems to have a keen sense of smell. And the other boy definitely has a breathing technique even he doesn't know he had one. Perhaps Tanjiro will find a way to break through and become your heir apparent. I am asking you to train them both.'_

_'I realize that this is a self-serving request but please forgive me. I hope that you will take good care of yourself in your endeavors.'_

_'Yours truly, Giyu Tomioka.'_

As the letter lingered in Urokodaki's mind, his thoughts went back to the boys at the door. If he decides to train them, they'll become a greater asset in taking care of themselves and helping other people in need. When Tomioka mentioned a boy with a breathing technique, he knew he referred that boy as BoBoiBoy. If he wants to know what breathing he has, he'll need to show it to him and prove it if he has what it takes to master it. Tanjiro seems to be the only person with no known breathing technique. But with Urokodaki here, he'll help him shape into a better Demon Slayer.

"I accept you both as my students."

* * *

**Chapter 2 done. *leans back into chair* This took me nearly a day but I'm glad it's done. I might have some ideas to what breathing BoBoiBoy will get and the heightened sense ability will be explained in the later chapters but it's gonna be a while to get there.**

**Hope you fellow readers enjoyed. I'll see you guys in the next chapter. :)**

**~ s a y o n a r a**


	3. Sabito and Makomo

Writing in his journal, Tanjiro is keeping records of him doing things that will be used and read for Nezuko if and when she wakes up from her deep slumber. Meanwhile BoBoiBoy is also writing in his notebook that can be used for the purpose of keeping tabs on his journey. He may be literally stuck forever in this world, but he'll learn to get used to the customs of this world as well as getting to know more of his new friend, Tanjiro.

_'Dear journal, today, I'm going to start writing in this so that I can keep a record on what I do and what I'll do in the future. Crazy stuff had happened. Tanjiro's family were murdered, his sister was turned into a demon, we met some demons that tried to kill us, and we met this old man named Sakonji Urokodaki. I never seen his face or can't seem to figure out his personality but I can clearly tell that he is probably a nice guy underneath that. It's his own way of being nice to us, maybe.__ Oh man, writing in this is a little difficult with just a quill. It'd be easy if I had my camera with me.'_

He paused his writing to look at Tanjiro staring at his sleeping sister.

_'I wonder what kind of training we will be undertaking by Mr. Urokodaki? From what I heard, he's quite a good trainer. I'm sure we'll be put under good guidance. And to be honest, I'd rather record this in my Space Log instead. Using a quill and a paper isn't my style but hey, life is never that easy.'_

He closed his journal notebook and put the quill beside it. Tanjiro is also done with his journal and went on to prepare himself for the training. He casted one more look on Nezuko, still sleeping.

_'How long is she gonna sleep? Seems like yesterday she was that active and now... not anymore. I guess being a demon takes a lot out of you, huh?'_

"Hey BoBoiBoy, we should get ready. We don't to make Mr. Urokodaki wait any longer." Tanjiro whispered as much to not wake up the still-sleeping Kamado sibling. BoBoiBoy tiptoed his way out of the room and grabbed his haori. He put on his boots as well and waited for Tanjiro. The latter takes one good look at Nezuko.

"Let's go." Urokodaki said as he put on his boots as well. Tanjiro closed the door.

_'This is gonna be tough on both of us but I hope we can survive whatever Urokodaki throw at us. And maybe, this is a good opportunity to figure out what I can do in this training.'_

* * *

A kanji word, **Destroy**, was displayed as Urokodaki narrated.

_"The Demon Slayer Corps has around several hundred members. It's an organization unrecognized by the government. Yet, it existed since the ancient times and we continue to hunt demons today."_

_"But as for who's leading the Demon Slayer Corps, that remains a mystery. Demons. Staple food... humans. They kill humans and feed them. No one knows where and when they first appeared. Their physical prowess is remarkable. Wounds heal in a blink of an eye. Flesh is restored after being hacked off, and limbs can be newly regenerated."_

_"Some demons can shape-shift, others have otherworldly powers. They can only be killed by sunlight or decapitation with a special sword. The demon slayer battle the demons with their own mortal bodies. Since they're human, their wounds are slow to heal, and once lost, their limbs don't grow back!"_

_"Even so, they battle the demons, they protect humans." Urokodaki finished his narration._

* * *

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy were descending from the mountain again but in daytime. They ran in synchronization as they hop and avoid all the traps placed by Urokodaki.

"I am a trainer. I literally train swordsmen. There are many trainers, and each of them trains their pupils with their own regimen in their location. To join the Demon Slayer Corps, you two must survive The Final Selection process held on Mt. Fujikasane. Whether or not you two are eligible for Final Selection is up to me." Urokodaki informed the boys who were listening attentively.

_'Starting today, I'm going to keep a journal for Nezuko. I'm descending the mountain with BoBoiBoy again. We're going to train for our hardest so we won't die during the Final Selection.'_

During his sprint, Tanjiro avoided a surprise log attack attached to a rope. Although he did indeed dodged it, it caused him to be disoriented and almost tripped on a wire on the ground if it wasn't for BoBoiBoy catching his arm.

"Be careful, Tanjiro." He told him and the both of them sprinted down the mountain while avoiding the traps altogether.

_'After repeatedly descending the mountain, day by day, I'm starting to learn how to avoid most of the traps. It's because I'm much stronger now, and because I'm even more adept at detecting scents than before.'_

He looked to see BoBoiBoy, his movements swiftly avoiding the traps with quick precision. He avoided the log that came out from the side and he ducked down to avoid getting hit. He jumped over more wires below his feet while he's running and jumped on the pitfalls, even if they're hidden.

_'BoBoiBoy is getting used to the traps as much as I do. His body is able to keep up with the surprise attacks that can happen anywhere. On top of that, his body is even more agile than what it used to be.'_

_'But even so... the traps are getting more and more difficult. He may really want to kill us.' _Tanjiro thought as he narrowly avoided the knives aimed for his head and almost fell down on a pitfall full of knives.

The boys wrote on their journals as they narrated on what training regime they're undertaking. Tanjiro glanced at Nezuko, sleeping. BoBoiBoy closed his journal and went to bed afterwards.

_'We made our descent today, sword in hand. But the sword really hampered my movement.' _BoBoiBoy narrated.

_'With the sword in hand, I almost got caught with some of the traps if it weren't for my sword. As for Tanjiro, he's unlucky as he got ensnared by a rope and was hanging upside down. It's quite hilarious to see as he continued flailing around. He knew he can cut down that rope with his sword, right?'_

"991... 992...!" They yelled as they swing their swords vertically per count.

_'We swing the swords today. Well it's not just today, we've been swinging the swords every single day. After descending the mountain, we swing our swords until our arms nearly fall off.'_

"1000!" They yelled as they concluded the final count of their swings and stopped swinging the swords.

"500 more!" Urokodaki yelled from the side. They both reacted like their breath escaped from their lips as they know that they have more swings to go.

Tanjiro tries to fight the sleepiness in him as he tried to finish his journal.

_'We survived our hellish training for what seemed to be like... a few hours ago. No breaks, no time-outs, just pure, hellish training that nearly costed our lives. Now I know why Mr. Urokodaki wants us to become better Demon Slayers. We have to push our limits if we want to survive The Final Selection that is due in who-knows-when.' _BoBoiBoy wrote in his own journal.

"Swords break easily." Urokodaki said with an object in front of them.

_'That's what he told us beforehand.' _Tanjiro narrated.

_'Though, it's strong vertically, it's weak horizontally. So... you need to apply the force straight along the blade. The blade's direction and the direction in which you will apply the force must be exactly the same.'_

Urokodaki did a quick demonstration as to how the blade should be sliced according to the force and quickness in velocity. He sliced the object in front of him neatly and perfectly.

_'And he added, **"If you ever damage the blade, in other words, break it, I'll snap all of your bones, as well!" **in a threatening tone of voice.' _Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy nervously sweatdropped at the mention of snapping their bones if they break the blades.

Putting his notebook away, BoBoiBoy got up and went to Tanjiro and shook his shoulders gently as he can.

"That's enough, Tanjiro. You have to go to bed. You're health is more important than anything." BoBoiBoy shook him and that caused him to stir awake.

"Okay..." He said in a sleepy tone and wiped his eyes with his arm's sleeve. "Nezuko... I'll keep working hard, okay?"

Morning passed by and both boys were wielding their swords. Urokodaki is their opponent and he surprised them by making them spin. And by spin, he flipped them downwards in one fell swoop.

_'Today, we did nothing but fall. Training to break our fall and get up from any position.' _BoBoiBoy narrated.

_'We wielded our swords charged Mr. Urokodaki, really trying to kill him. Tanjiro, however, charged in way too fast and all silly-like. In contrast, Mr. Urokodaki is bare-handed and unarmed, but he's ridiculously powerful!'_

Tanjiro tried to attack Urokodaki but he just grabbed him and threw Tanjiro behind him.

_'__He just flings him away to just roll to the ground everytime. And now, it just comes down to me and Mr. Urokodaki. I charged at him, sword behind me as I try to slash him vertically. And as he predicted, he blocked my slash with his hands and held on to the blade before he threw me and my sword away like Tanjiro.'_

After their training, they returned to Urokodaki's house after a long day from their training.

"Nezuko, we're home." Tanjiro greeted his sleeping sister. He sighed as went back and write in his journal.

"When will she ever wake up from this?" BoBoiBoy muttered as he did the same thing as Tanjiro.

_'I'm never going to get used to this, but it has to be done or else, I'll never catch up to Tanjiro's level. He's progressing a bit better than the last days we trained. In contrary to this, this is really harder than Tok Kasa's training!__'_

He stretched his arms and yawned. He looked to see Tanjiro drowsily writing in his journal.

_'Hopefully, tomorrow isn't as painful as it is expected. I wanna take a break.'_

* * *

_'Today, I learned breathing techniques and some forms.'_

"Total Concentration Breathing?" Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy simultaneously asked.

"That's right. I'm going to teach you all ten of the Water Breathing forms. Remember to take a long breath so the oxygen flows into every cell in your body. This will enhance your body's natural healing power, and both stabilize and energize your spirit." Urokodaki gives out instructions on how to do a Water Breathing.

"Relax your upper body while bracing your lower half." Urokodaki ordered them and they did what they were told. "All right, breathe!"

When he said "breathe", they literally didn't do what he expected and instead inhaled all the air they can breathe in.

"Wrong!" He struck them both in the abdomen.

"Oww..." BoBoiBoy winced in pain as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"Next Forms!"

"Right, like this?" They did the wrong stance.

"Wrong!"

"Like this?"

"Wrong!"

"This?"

"Wrong!"

"This?"

"Wrong!"

_'And just like, he strucked us again and again in our stomachs until we can't get up. This is what we get for not bracing our stomachs and clobbered to a pulp.'_

_'Next, he told us to become one with the water.'_

BoBoiBoy gaze at the waterfall. His memory of him training in that waterfall never left him and he knows what he's referring to. It's all about meditating while the water is flowing on top of his head.

"Get in there!" Urokodaki told Tanjiro. For not being quick enough, he kicked Tanjiro off of the edge and Tanjiro did some funny poses to try to get back to the surface.

"Nezuko!" He fell to the water as he shouted out her name.

"Do I need to do the same to you?" He looked at BoBoiBoy, still standing beside him.

"No worries, sir! I've been in this before!" He exclaimed as he jumped off the edge and splashed into the water. With him and Tanjiro in the water, they sat at the peak of the waterfall and tried to concentrate.

BoBoiBoy did well in his meditation in the waterfall. He had gone through this process before to improve his remaining elements, Blaze and Ice. He can do it again for the sake of getting stronger, with or without his original powers.

His concentration was interrupted by Tanjiro, yelling out Nezuko's name again.

"Nezuko! I am water!"

He sweatdropped. _'Oh boy, this is gonna be a long day.'_

* * *

_'__And now, it's been six months since Nezuko was last awake. Mr. Urokodaki summoned the doctor right away and had him examine her, but he found nothing wrong._ _But it's not normal for her to stay asleep like this.'_

With a sad look, BoBoiBoy approached the sleeping Kamado sibling carefully and sat down beside her.

"Poor Nezuko. It's been six months now..."

Tanjiro leaned forward to get a good closer look at Nezuko's sleeping face.He places his hand on top of her head as to reassure her. _'I was scared. I worry that one morning, I'll wake up to find her dead. Not a day goes by that I don't worry.'_

"..." Tanjiro silently gazed at her. His eyes didn't leave her for one second. The thought of his sister never waking up again scares him.

"Hey." Tanjiro glaced up. "It's gonna be alright. Someday, she'll wake up feeling better and happier to see you. You need to look on the bright side more than thinking of what's going to happen to her. I know it sounds easy when I say it but you need to try to look at a positive view more. Trust me."

For the past six months, Tanjiro didn't even smile the whole time because of Nezuko's condition. But since BoBoiBoy is here to cheer him up in these hard times, he finds a reason to smile again.

"Thank you. I don't even know what to do without you here." Tanjiro finally showed his smile after six months.

Next day later, they're descending down the mountain again.

_'Our descents are getting more dangerous.' _Tanjiro thought as he and BoBoiBoy are running down the mountain. They slid down a steep path and carefully maneuvered around the thin ledge. Tanjiro would've slipped down and fall if it weren't for BoBoiBoy helping him up back.

_'Time and time again, I think we might die.'_

A log with spikes on the front came down but Tanjiro sliced it with a clean cut. BoBoiBoy reflected the throwing knives as he is more in control of his own senses. Him and Tanjiro are deflecting most of the throwing knives with ease until there are none left to deploy. The sun rose as they finished their training.

"I have nothing more to teach you."

Both were catching their breath after their training.

_'A year after we arrived at Mt. Sagiri, he told us all of a sudden...'_

"The rest is up to you two! Whether or not both of you can improve to the next level." Urokodaki told them.

BoBoiBoy is the first to speak. "But why? Why did you decide to stop training us? I don't understand."

Urokodaki paused.

"Come with me!"

Walking deeper into the forest, Urokodaki led them to a huge boulder wrapped in some kind of rope. They gasped at the sight.

"If you two can slice this boulder, I will allow you both to enter Final Selection."

BoBoiBoy blinked. "No way... this boulder... can be sliced...?"

"I'm with him. Our swords would snap. If we try to slice this thing."

Urokodaki begins to walk away from them to leave them on what to do with the boulder.

"Mr. Urokodaki, please wait!" Tanjiro tried calling out to him. "Mr. Urokodaki!"

_'After that, Mr. Urokodaki never taught us anything ever again.'_

Still looking at the direction of where Urokodaki went through, Tanjiro looked down at the ground.

"Let's do this." BoBoiBoy unsheathed his sword. "We've come this far. We're not gonna be bested by some boulder!"

BoBoiBoy stood in front of the boulder, determination covering his whole face. "Stand back, Tanjiro. I'm gonna test to see how durable this boulder is."

He took many deep breaths and stared at the boulder for a while now.

"HAAAAAAAA!" He inputted so much power into that one swing and struck the boulder, but it didn't leave a scratch or graze anywhere. As a result, the power of the swing vibrated on the sword and onto BoBoiBoy as well.

"Well... I tried." BoBoiBoy sighed as he couldn't slice this boulder. Tanjiro stepped forward as it's his turn to do it. He did the same thing and had goosebumps running all over him. Thankfully the boulder didn't cracked his sword.

"Maybe we should try it together? More power and energy in that, right?" BoBoiBoy suggested.

"All right. Let's give it try." Tanjiro agreed.

They both stood back and let out a battle cry.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

After failing to cut the boulder in half, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy decided to train separately as to give each other some privacy and more open space. BoBoiBoy is seen slicing some bamboo sticks.

_'Every day, I practiced over and over what I'd learned from Mr. Urokodaki. We've come to an agreement that Tanjiro and I are gonna train on our own.'_

He practiced his own training regime which are push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and holding his breath while underwater.

_'During my own training, I continued to hone my own breathing thanks to Mr. Urokodaki mentioning it.'_

He goes in a meditating stance while drawing vast amounts of air into him.

_'I finally figured out what I did last year during my encounter with Mr. Tomioka and the demons. Whenever I do this breathing technique, my body feels really lighter. I breathed in air in me and released them as a burst of energy.'_

It shows BoBoiBoy doing the breathing technique and sliced the bamboo sticks all around him for more than a second. He fell to one knee after using it for only one try.

_'The only problem is, I find myself breathing really heavily like I have asthma.'_

_'I was able to nimble around more quickly when I activated my heightened sense, which allows me to see, hear, and feel through everything.'_

With his senses enhanced, he did multiple athletic tricks to further improve his agility and jumped branch to branch from the trees he's currently using to navigate.

_'The thing is, I can only activate it once a day except my hearing didn't affect it for some odd reason. So I can only use this trait for my own benefit if I ever need to.' _

They gathered around to the boulder once again. Tanjiro is the first to try and slice the boulder multiple times but to no avail. BoBoiBoy got his turn last and had no progress in cutting the boulder.

_'Even with the two of us separately training to make ourselves stronger, even after another six months had passed, we still couldn't slice the boulder.'_

His hands were shaking from the stress he's taking from not cutting down this really hard boulder. Speaking of BoBoiBoy's hands, they suffered too much, rough to the surface and appeared to be peeling with the amount of training he's doing. Tanjiro had this too.

_'I felt frustrated. Not enough!' _He balled his hands into fists. _'I wasn't training hard enough!'_

He's now pushing himself to his limits by running down and up the mountain multiple times during the day, doing his routine of basic exercises like push-ups for hours, and trying to improve his breathing and heightened senses.

_'I gotta do more! More! For the sake of myself! For the sake of Tanjiro and Nezuko! For the sake of this world!'_

Afternoon entered, the sunset warms the skin of BoBoiBoy. After many attempts of trying to cut the boulder, he still failed.

_'After all the training... after I endured all the sufferings, I still couldn't manage cut down this damn boulder!'_

He gripped his head as he's about to go crazy. But as he opened his eyes, his eyes flashed yellow for a quick second until it went back to its original color brown.

_'I'll almost give in! I'm breaking down!!'_

Not taking it anymore, he smacked his forehead against the boulder for his failures.

"Keep working, BoBoiBoy! You can do it!!" He tried encouraging himself and smacked his head against the boulder again.

"Shut up!" A mysterious voice prevented him from smacking his head any further. He got startled and glanced up to see a boy with a orange hair and a fox mask.

"A man shouldn't whine. It's unseemly." He said as he sat on top of the boulder.

_'When did he show up? There's no sound when he's there. A fox mask?'_

"No matter how much you suffer, bear it in silence... like that other boy." He stood up from the boulder. "If you're a man. If you call yourself a man."

He leapt from the rock and used his bokken to strike BoBoiBoy's sword, to which he blocked it. The mysterious boy tried to kick his head but BoBoiBoy ducked his head it in no time and gained some distance between him and the boy in a mask by jumping away.

"You had reflexes, I'll give you that. But you are still weak and immature. That's not what you call a man."

"What are you doing?" BoBoiBoy asked to the boy.

"I'd like to know what you think you're doing." He replied.

"What do you mean? I'm training." He plainly said, not knowing what he meant by that.

"How long do you plan to keep your butt on the ground without even taking a stance?"

He gets it now and puts on his stance. He never has his own stance with a sword before, the only times he made a stance was when he changed into BoBoiBoy Lightning and dual wielded his lightning swords. So therefore, he created his own stance by putting his sword closer to the side of his face with the blade facing front, hands both on the handle, and his left leg stretched to the front and his right leg almost crouched.

He is now waiting for the boy to do something.

"Come on. Come at me." He gestured his hand as an act to taunt him.

"I'd like to but you have a wooden sword and I have a real sword." He is concerned by the fact that he is holding a real sword while the other boy is holding a bokken.

A few seconds later, he begins to laugh to mock his statement earlier, making BoBoiBoy confused and nervous about this.

"Well, well! Thank you for worrying about me. So, you think you're actually going to injure me!" Without any warning, he charged over to BoBoiBoy and clashed his bokken into his real sword. He brought his bokken closer after he countered BoBoiBoy's slash and said this.

"Well, you have absolutely nothing to worry about! I'm more powerful than you because I've sliced that boulder!"

_'Wait, him? He sliced that boulder?_ He thought as sweat begins to break on his face. The masked boy jumped upwards and flip to a nearby tree, which is behind BoBoiBoy and leapt from it to surprise attack hihim from behind.

_'Don't panic! Remember your training! Use your heightened sense to see where he went!'_

And just like that, he concentrated his breathing and the world around him became clearer. His hearing senses detected a hurling object coming and he quickly turned around to parried the bokken using his sword. After he successfully blocked the attack, the masked boy rapidly moved around in a zig-zag pattern to try and disorient BoBoiBoy's sight.

_'It's okay! I can see him going from one tree from another and by the sounds of it, he can be going over—'_

As he predicted, the masked boy zoomed to his side and BoBoiBoy instinctly blocked the incoming attack with his sword.

"Nice block!" He praised him. "But can you block this one next?" He kept moving but this time adding more speed into his movements and zigzagged again around the forest.

_'Not good! I can't find him at this rate of speed! How is he so fast!?'_

And before he know it, he was struck down by the masked boy and was sent to the ground, hard.

"You have learned nothing but blocking my attacks. You barely mastered a single thing! Particularly, the breathing technique Mr. Urokodaki taught you... Total Concentration Breathing." He said this to him.

_'He knows Mr. Urokodaki? And the breathing technique, too?'_

"What you did wasn't Total Concentration Breathing. But the totally different type of breathing you did, you didn't heed to its abilities. All you did was identifying its advantages. Your body doesn't have the strength to do what it needs to do. And for what you did there, when you blocked my attack, your Heightened Senses need more work."

BoBoiBoy stares wide eyed at the masked boy.

_'How does he know about my ability to enhance my senses? Was he watching me from the shadows?'_

"What the hell were you doing for a whole year and a half? The other boy also doesn't have a clue what he's doing too!" He said as he attacked him again with his bokken.

"Slam it into your flesh!" The masked boy repeatedly swings his bokken at the yellow haori boy. They kept exchanging blows when the masked boy skidded BoBoiBoy across a few yards. "More! More! So that you'll never forget the secrets Mr. Urokodaki taught you! Pound it into the marrow of your bones!"

"Listen!" He blocked an attack. "I'm trying my best!"

He continued to Parry most of his attacks. "Me and Tanjiro! We're giving our training everything we got!"

A flashback of him and Tanjiro appeared as they stood in front of the boulder that they were trying to slice since day 1.

"But still, we're not making any headway! We can't go on any further!" The flashback ends.

"Go further! If you're a man, if you call yourself a man! There's no other way to go but forward!"

They kept clashing blades against each other. "Bring it on! Show me what you are capable of!"

With one battle cry, BoBoiBoy's eyes flickered yellow until it is coloured completely bright yellow. His sword started to emit sparks around it. The masked boy, however, was surprise to see this change but still went for the attack. Their blades made contact but BoBoiBoy's sword totally cut his bokken in half.

BoBoiBoy glanced up to meet the masked boy and glared intensely. His yellow eyes never escaped his mask. To the other boy, despite his face hiding behind the mask, he looked he is seeing a monster.

Shortly after, BoBoiBoy collapsed in front of the masked boy. Too shocked to even move, he glanced down to meet him. The way he cut his bokken in half, it's almost as if he wanted to make sure he gets the message by not messing with him anymore.

A little girl in a kimono and with a fox mask beside her head entered the scene and looked at her friend. She was almost surprise to see him unmoving from his current spot.

"Hide this boy behind the boulder." He asked to her. "Meanwhile, I'll be waiting for the other one..." He vanished just like that, leaving the girl, with a smile on her face, all alone with BoBoiBoy.

* * *

BoBoiBoy stirred awake after he passed out from exhaustion.

"Are you all right?" The little girl said. "You're friend behind the boulder. He seems to be waking up as well."

He didn't know what she meant until he heard some groans behind the boulder. BoBoiBoy got up slowly to see Tanjiro waking up.

The little girl saw Tanjiro and went over to his side and knelt to meet his height.

"Did you see that just now?" Tanjiro asked almost a bit too loud. It took him a while to notice BoBoiBoy beside her.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he stops him. "The same thing with you."

He closed his mouth, now understanding what he meant.

"Anyways, what a strike that was! Not a single bit of wasted motion! It was really beautiful! I want to become like that! You think I can become like him?"

The girl just sat there and smiled at his fascination towards the masked boy's prowess.

"I'm sure you can since I'll be looking after you." She said in a cute voice. "As for you, you faced him last time and you did really well. With enough training, you can surpass his level."

She smiled. Her smile radiates so much kindness and innocence.

_'She's so cute.' _They both thought.

"Who are you?"

_'This girl's name is Makomo.' _BoBoiBoy begins to narrate. _'She told me that the boy me and Tanjiro faced was Sabito.'_

_'Makomo also pointed out our defects. She corrected Tanjiro's unnecessary movements and bad habits and she corrected my levelheadedness in battle and overconfidence in my senses.'_

The boys watched her as she put on a flower crown on her head while sitting on top of a rock.

_'But when we asked her why she was doing those, and where she came from, she didn't tell us anything.'_

"Both he and I love Mr. Urokodaki very much."

_'That was Makomo's pet phrase. She and Sabito weren't siblings. She said that Mr. Urokodaki raised them after they'd been orphaned.'_

Makomo stood in front of the boulder. "There are other children besides us. They're always watching you both, Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy."

_'Makomo is somewhat a strange girl.' _Tanjiro tilted his head.

_'She speaks in such an abstract, dreamy way.'_

"You see, Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, Total Concentration Breathing accelerates your blood circulation and your heart rate. That causes your body temperature to spike, making you strong as a demon while staying human, The important thing is to expand your lung capacity. When you bring lots of air into your blood, and when your blood gets excited, your bones and muscles scurry to heat up and grow stronger." Makomo explained in good detail.

_'Although, when she explained it like that, it doesn't add up to me. I don't know about Tanjiro but he seems to be confused as I do.'_

"BoBoiBoy." She eyed him.

"Yeah?"

She thinks for a second before opening her mouth. "If you mix Water Breathing with your own breathing, something miraculous will happen."

His interest piqued by the sounds of it. And she seems to know about his breathing technique.

"What's my breathing technique called?" BoBoiBoy asked the number one thing that has been on his mind since he started training for this. Tanjiro looks at him with wonder. He never knew he had his own breathing technique. BoBoiBoy just never told him that.

"That would ruin the fun now, wouldn't it?" She smiled and avoided the question for now. "My advice to you; keep training your breathing technique until you can stand on your own two feet."

"Hey Makomo, about the breathing technique, how can I do that?" Tanjiro asked her. Makomo simply just smiled and replied.

"Train to death. At the end of the day, there's nothing else you can do."

* * *

They trained like crazy, BoBoiBoy and Tanjiro. They never stop training no matter if it is day or night. They dropped down to the ground after they worked up so much to improve themselves.

_'Until our arms and legs were ready to fall off... Until our lungs and heart were ready to burst, we swung our swords. But still...'_

A scene showed Sabito handling them with ease.

_'We just couldn't beat Sabito.'_

_'Not until six months later.'_

Time had advanced really fast as Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy are facing off one of their most difficult obstacles in their whole lives, Sabito and the boulder.

With the time skipping by, Tanjiro outgrew his dark-red hair that reached down his neck. BoBoiBoy also outgrew his hair, reaching down to his shoulders and has shown to grow more than a few inches taller than Tanjiro. This advancement of two years made his voice a little more deeper, a sign that puberty has kicked in.

_'When we challenged him that day, Sabito was wielding a real sword. Because BoBoiBoy destroyed his bokken, he knew that it was time to get serious and fight for real.'_

"After six months, finally." Sabito unsheathed his sword. "You two have the looks of a man."

All of them were in their stances.

"Today's the day we win!" Both said at the same time.

They all had an intense stare off to see which one of them moves first. Makomo watched them from the sidelines.

_'Head-on battles are simple. Whoever's stronger and faster wins.'_

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy took deep breaths, focusing on channeling their breathing, and got ready.

They disappeared, vanished like the speed of light. But in reality, they all held their swords straight up and ready to slice who's who. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy were the first people to brought down their swords in inhumane speed before Sabito brings down his own.

_'On this day, in this moment, for the first time, our blades reached Sabito first.'_

As a result, his fox mask was sliced in half vertically. They both gasped at his real face, Sabito's face. Instead of him frowning, he was smiling.

_'The moment we won, Sabito smiled. He looked sad and happy. A relieved kind of smile.'_

"Tanjiro... BoBoiBoy..." Makomo called them out. "Both of you did great. Don't forget what you two just did. Win, okay, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy?"

She started to vanish in the foggy mist. "Beat that guy, too."

As they both looked at Makomo disappearing and back to Sabito, he was gone, gone from their field of vision.

_'The next thing we knew, Sabito was gone. And our swords, which we were sure had slashed Sabito's mask...'_

In their fight with Sabito, they thought that when they get passed him, they can finally work on to slicing the boulder again. But in actuality, their blades not only met Sabito's, but the impossible, hardest obstacle, was done.

_'...had sliced the boulder.'_

* * *

**Holy— Did I get lost in thought? Because I think I wrote much than I can think! If this continues, I'm gonna get a headache. (•̩̩̩̩＿•̩̩̩̩)**

**This took me a while but I'm happy it's done.**

**Thank you guys for enjoying and reading this chapter, and I'll see you guys later 3**

**Much love from me! ω**


	4. Final Selection Part 1

_'The reason we won... was because we learned to detect the opening thread using our senses.' _Tanjiro begins his narration. _'When we're battling someone, and I pick up this scent or if BoBoiBoy identified it using his hearing, sight, or even feeling it, then we can see the thread.'_

The scene shows his blade's thread connected to Sabito's mask. _'The thread is connected from our blade to our opponent's opening, growing taut the instant we see it._

The scene repeats with them slicing off Sabito's mask in three pieces with quick precision.

_'Our blades are drawn toward it with great force and then we slash the opening.'_

Sabito's mask broke into three vertically. But in reality, the boulder that stood behind Sabito, was also sliced in the same manner.

The boys stood in front of the sliced boulder and were astounded to see them they have done it.

"We... we did it." BoBoiBoy quietly said with his deep voice. Tanjiro silently stared at the boulder.

Footsteps can be heard approaching and they turned around to see Mr. Urokodaki walking towards the sliced boulder.

"Mr. Urokodaki." Tanjiro is surprised to see him. Urokodaki can only stare at the boulder with revelation. He never expected them to take two years to finally did the test provided by him.

"I had no intention of sending you both to Final Selection." He said.

They looked at him with faces that are both tired and wonder. "W-Why?"

He answered. "I didn't want to see children die anymore."

_'Anymore? Does that mean... he had other students besides us?' _BoBoiBoy thought. He figured why Urokodaki let them take the test in the first place.

"I was sure you two wouldn't be able to slice this boulder, but..."

They both received a pat on the head courtesy by Urokodaki for a job well done.

"Well done, my boys! Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, you're... you two are remarkable kids!"

Hearing him praising for all their hard work made both of them teary-eyed. BoBoiBoy sniffed and couldn't hold back his raw emotions. And later, both of them hugged Urokodaki.

"Make sure you both come back alive from Final Selection. Nezuko and I will be waiting for you two here."

They all returned to Urokodaki's house. Inside, Urokodaki is cooking some fried fish and a hot pot. The boys are now drooling for the food being prepared for them.

"What's the occasion? There's so much." Tanjiro asked.

"Oh man, I'm so hungry! I can't wait to dig in!" BoBoiBoy said with his mouth watered.

"You both have completed all your training, so we're celebrating." Urokodaki answered as he pour the hot pot's contents in two bowls. "Don't be shy. Eat up."

They wholeheartedly took the bowls from him. "Thank you very much!".

BoBoiBoy took his chopsticks and partially dug in his own meal. It took a few tries to have him get used to the chopsticks' uses as he accidentally slipped his hands but he finally learned to use them properly.

His face brightened as he savoured every flavour the moment it entered his mouth.

"This is so good! It's been so long since I've tasted something like this!" BoBoiBoy is happy. Tanjiro silently eats while enjoying his company and his meal.

_'Tanjiro... BoBoiBoy... There's nothing more I can do for you two. From here on out, you'll be going through such hardship and strife. Your training will seem like nothing in comparison. So, far now, at least, you two should rest well without a care in the world.'_

"Seconds please!" BoBoiBoy handed his bowl back to Urokodaki and filled his bowl up more with hot pot followed by Tanjiro.

When they're done with their meals, Tanjiro decided to have his hair cut shorter to better fit his appearance. On the other hand, BoBoiBoy had some trouble with cutting his own hair as it is long and reached to his shoulders. His struggles came to an end as Tanjiro helped him cut his hair when BoBoiBoy asked for his hair's preference.

His haircut was done. The process was a bit sloppy but he's happy with his new hair. His hair came out differently than his original hair. It was back to its short state except his hair is a bit more spiky due to some excessive cuts from Tanjiro himself. His white streak almost spread a bit near his strand of hair. From an angle, his hair is almost identical to Fang's save for the white streak on his hair.

Tanjiro may not be the best stylist but he has his taste on some haircuts.

_'At least he didn't try to make me bald. That's the last thing I would want right now.' _He wished he have a mirror to see his new hair but Tanjiro's description made him think otherwise.

Urokodaki folded two kimonos designed like his own. He stopped as he asked something. "Hey, Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy..."

"Yes?" Tanjiro turned around.

"Did you two enjoyed that hot pot?"

"Yeah! It was my first pot and it was so delicious! Thank you Mr. Urokodaki!"

"Yeah! I haven't had such a feast in so long!"

They expressed their opinions and really enjoyed what Urokodaki made for them.

"As growing boys like you both with a hearty appetite should get stronger the more they eat as well as grow bigger in size. But that goes for demons, too."

"Actually, I think I got the size part down already." BoBoiBoy stood up and took a look at himself. He never thought he'd grew a growth spurt in the last two years of his time in this new world.

"Aww man." Tanjiro feels jealous. He also wanted to be tall like BoBoiBoy but sadly, his body didn't allow it to happen yet.

"Don't worry, Tanjiro. Maybe you'll be as tall as I am right now in the future." He put his hands on his hips and smirked.

"Remember this, a demon is as strong as the number of humans he's devoured." Urokodaki said a fact.

"So, the more they eat, the stronger they get?" Tanjiro assumed.

"That's right. There are demons who gain power, become able to transform their bodies and even use strange spells."

"Strange spells? Like what?" BoBoiBoy curiously asked.

"Demons can utilize spells like their signature moves called **Blood Demon Arts. **These are techniques or spells that only higher level demons can cast. Each of these spells are unique to each demon. You'd best be careful when you encounter one in your way."

BoBoiBoy nodded, taking all the information Urokodaki said in his head.

Urokodaki stood up and went to the cabinets and opened it to reveal two fox masks. He grabbed two of them and gazed at them.

"When your senses become keener, you'll be able to tell how many humans a demon's consumed.

He handed them two of the masks. They grabbed the masks and examined them.

"What's this?" Tanjiro asked.

"It's called a 'warding mask'. I've charged it with a spell to protect you both from harm."

"Warding mask..." Tanjiro stared at the mask.

"It looks so cool. Can I try it on?" BoBoiBoy asked as he wanted to try it on. Urokodaki nodded as he gave permission to wear the mask. BoBoiBoy slowly put it on and was fascinated with the power of the warding mask feeling in his head.

"How do I look Tanjiro? Pretty awesome, right?" BoBoiBoy said with his voice muffled inside the mask.

"It looks great on you! I bet it would be greater if there is something covering your head or something." Tanjiro gave his opinion. Before he knew it, Urokodaki took BoBoiBoy's mask off.

"This mask is not just an accessory but a necessity. Take caution when you put it on." Urokodaki warned.

"Okay. I will."

* * *

It was morning the next day. The sunlight entered one of the windows except the window which Nezuko is sleeping is closed and covered shut. The boys took turns in taking a bath, BoBoiBoy got in first before Tanjiro. They then put on the kimonos that Urokodaki provided them.

As BoBoiBoy is getting ready and putting on his boots, Tanjiro walks into a room where Nezuko is still sleeping.

"Nezuko..." Tanjiro whispered and went over to her and held her hand with his.

"I'm coming back here no matter what, all right?" He held her hand near his face. BoBoiBoy happened to enter the room as well and sees Tanjiro with her again.

_'He must be checking up on her condition again like he always do.' _He thought before his mouth curved into a smile. _'I'm glad Nezuko has such a loving and caring big brother.'_

"Hey Tanjiro, he's waiting for us outside. Let's not keeping him waiting any longer." BoBoiBoy told Tanjiro before he held up his hand towards him.

"Just give me a second okay?" Tanjiro still whispered.

And just that, BoBoiBoy left the room and went outside to meet with Urokodaki.

"Where's Tanjiro?" He asked to the tall boy.

"He's still inside with Nezuko. It'll only take a couple of minutes." He informed him.

"I see." Urokodaki said. Something tells him that he still wanted to talk to BoBoiBoy more. Sure, they lived here for two years but they haven't exactly interact much, just making small talk and telling him of his training.

"BoBoiBoy, I want to ask you something." Urokodaki needs to say this. "Whilst in your training, have you discover something unique?"

He crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"

Urokodaki clarified. "I've been observing you two for the past years, you and Tanjiro. Tanjiro has the will and passion of never giving up, all for the sake of his sister. But my eye catches to you. When I observed you training in secret, it feels like you have already done it before."

"Uhmm yeah. I did but—"

"I'm not done there." Urokodaki silenced him. "You mention things like being in a different world and not having your original powers with you. I always have a feeling of you being in another place because your scent says something foreign. BoBoiBoy, answer me honestly."

He gulped. _'Has he already... had me figured out!?'_

BoBoiBoy is sweating bullets. How long does he keep blurting out his origins. He never thought him being secluded while training privately would give him a sense of sanctuary. How he was not aware that he was being watched from the shadows by none other than Urokodaki himself.

Here he is now, being interrogated with no way out of this. Should BoBoiBoy tell him the whole story, it would make things complicated between him, Tanjiro and Urokodaki. If he decides it on the fact that he's going to spill it, what's the purpose of him keeping it hidden for any longer?

Urokodaki continued. "Who are you and what do you mean by 'being in another world'?"

He's now trapped. He felt his heart beating rapidly.

_'What should I do...? What should I do!?'_

"Hey BoBoiBoy! Mr. Urokodaki!" As if he's prayers have been answered, Tanjiro emerged outside the house. "Sorry to keep you all waiting."

Urokodaki sighed. If he wants his answer from BoBoiBoy, he'll have to wait for another time. BoBoiBoy is relieved that Urokodaki lets him off the hook in the meantime.

"We'll pick this up another time." Urokodaki muttered as he got near to BoBoiBoy. "I won't force you next time. If you feel like telling me, then you know where to find me."

Feeling his worries washed away, BoBoiBoy smiled sincerely. "Thanks Mr. Urokodaki."

Urokodaki nodded and turned to face Tanjiro. "Don't worry about your sister. I'll take good care of her."

"All right!" Tanjiro nodded. "Thank you very much!"

"Well then, thanks, Mr. Urokodaki! We'll make sure we get back from the Final Selection!" BoBoiBoy tagged along with Tanjiro as they are prepared to set off.

BoBoiBoy looked back and see Urokodaki waving them farewell. He smiled even more. It shows that he really cares for them both. However, while he's still looking back, he caught a glimpse of two people beside Urokodaki looking towards them with pleasant smiles on their faces.

_'Wait a minute, isn't that Sabito and Makomo?' _BoBoiBoy thought with a surprised look.

"Say hello to Sabito and Makomo for us!" Tanjiro yelled back. "C'mon BoBoiBoy!"

"Uhh right!" He caught up with Tanjiro as they both ran down the path and on their way to Final Selection.

Unbeknownst to them, Urokodaki is shocked to hear Tanjiro saying their names.

"Tanjiro... How do you... know the names of those dead children?"

It was around night time when they arrived on the Final Selection. They both walked under the wisteria trees. For BoBoiBoy, it is his first time seeing them in person. He heard about them from Tanjiro and he's curious to know what they look like.

He already has his answer as they all look stunningly colorful and beautiful.

"Wow. Look at all these wisteria flowers." Tanjiro said as he held one in his hand.

"So this is what they look like." BoBoiBoy said as he also held a wisteria flower in his hands.

"These have a strange and pleasant feeling."

"I know. Even though they're out of season."

They both continue to walk down the path while BoBoiBoy is still admiring the flowers. They both went up the stairs and they're surprised to see lots of people in the meeting area.

"Whooooaa... So many people." BoBoiBoy caught sight of some unique people. He saw a girl with purple eyes, a side ponytail, and in a pink kimono, looking at the ground with a sweet smile on her pretty face.

_'She's pretty.' _He was mesmerized by her beauty.

BoBoiBoy looked to see more people and saw a guy with yellow-orange hair and a yellow kimono with white triangles splattered everywhere. His face was smothered with some dirt and he looked serious.

_'He looked like he had a pretty rough time.' _He said in his thoughts as he continued to look at him.

And finally, his eyes landed on a guy in a black kimono with an intimidating look on his face.

_'Whoa. I better watch out for him. He seems bad news to me.'_

"There are so many." Tanjiro said as he walked through the crowd of demon hunters.

"You tell me."

"Everyone, we thank you for coming here tonight. To the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection." Two twin sisters, one with white hair and one with black hair, said in sync on the front.

_'Their looks are so... creepy to me.' _BoBoiBoy almost looked away from their statue-like faces.

"There are many demons imprisoned here in Mt. Fujikasane captured alive by the Demon Slayer swordsmen and unable to leave." The white haired girl named Hinaki said in her monotone voice.

"That is because wisteria, which demons hate so much, blooms year-round from the bottom to half-way up the mountain." The black haired girl named Nichika said also in monotone.

_'I get it. It's a way to provide protection for people to travel up the mountain.' _He said as he understood the concept.

"However, there is no wisteria from this point-on and so demons abound." Hinaki said.

"You need to survive seven days to pass Final Selection." Nichika told them the objective.

"Seven days?" BoBoiBoy repeated.

"And now, be on your way." They both said and bowed down.

Tanjiro looked on with fierce determination on his face. On the other hand, BoBoiBoy held on his determined face when coming here. This is their moment to shine on this night.

"We ready?" BoBoiBoy said to his friend, his only friend here in the demon-ridden world.

"Yeah, let's go." They stepped forward.

* * *

Initially, their plan was to group together just so they can cover each other, but as Tanjiro suggested, they decided to split up to cover more ground. That way, they would clear a path for the other people and the forest would be demon-free. It's a risk but they must prove their training succeed.

"Survive for seven days... this is gonna be difficult." BoBoiBoy mumbled as he jumped from branch to branch.

"I hope Tanjiro's gonna be okay." He said. "Yeah. He'll be fine. He's not a pushover anymore. He's stronger like me now."

He kept jumping until he landed on one final branch and surveyed his surroundings.

_'First, I'm gonna survive the night until sunrise. That way, the demons won't be able to do anything on daytime. I'll be able to rest while I'll still have the time.'_

He kept his thought process while moving. _'I need to move to a place where sunlight can hit. I just have to find somewhere with more open space.'_

He halted his running when he sensed movement coming his way. He brought his guard up and gripped his hand on the sword's handle.

_'I hear multiple sounds, but where? It can be anywhere from my sides but at the same time, it's not.'_

Realization struck to him as he looked upwards. _'It's above me!'_

A demon appeared from above. BoBoiBoy rolled out of the way when the demon dived on his very spot. Just as when he thought that it was only one demon, another surprise attacked him from behind. BoBoiBoy quickly blocked the attack with his blade and jumped away to gain distance. The demon that attacked him from behind began quarrelling with his own kind.

"Hey! Don't even grab my pray, man!" He said as he puts his arm against his neck.

"Get off of my turf!" The other demon retorted.

"To hell with you, just beat it!"

Unsheathing his sword, BoBoiBoy observed his opponents while devising a way on how to deal with them.

_'Let's see; I have two demons right off the bat. And they seem to be occupied to see who will get me first. If I can use that advantage, I can take them out.'_

"That's my pray, you know!"

"Shut up!"

One of them leapt to get ahold of BoBoiBoy. "It's first come, first served!"

As they got closer, BoBoiBoy held his own guard and let the attacks hit him, to which he blocked them. The other demon kicked him away from them.

_'Stay calm! I need to stay calm! Anticipate their movements, and look for an opening to deliver a striking blow!'_

He relaxed and consumed the air by inhaling using his mouth. He felt his body creating vibrating movements before he can let out all of the air.

_'Here I go!_ **_Total Concentration!'_**

The demons are rushing to his spot, ready to devour him.

_'**Lightning Breathing!**__'_

As he focused on his breathing, the sound of the threads appeared on his field of vision, prompting him to strike.

_'The sound of the threads! They're here!'_

His sword begins emitting sparks of electricity and enveloping his whole blade.

_'**Fourth Form! Lightning Lash!**' _With that said, BoBoiBoy dashed in a speed of lightning and sliced their necks off, leaving lightning emitting across their bodies until it fries into burning corpses remaining.

He heave some breaths just as he successfully killed his first demons.

"I did it... I did it!" He was joyful to see him defeating the demons. "I've defeated demons without my power watch!"

He almost cried after doing it. "I've grown stronger! All that training wasn't for nothing!"

He looked off into the distance of the trees. "I heard water splashing. It must be Tanjiro defeating his own demons as well. Heh, you did it Tanjiro."

His smile lasted for a second before looking at the ashed corpses of the demons. He brought his eyes to his sword that Urokodaki had given him during his training.

"This sword... Mr. Urokodaki, I won't let it break for you."

He then thought of what Urokodaki taught him and Tanjiro about demons and the swords' capabilities.

"A demon's weak spot is its neck! But you can't kill it with a normal sword even if you slash its neck."

"Then, how can we take it down?" Tanjiro asked.

"The sword wielded by the Demon Slayer Corps were forged with a special kind of steel. That's the only way to kill a demon."

He brought the blade up to fully display it in front of them to see what it looks like. "They're called the **Nichirin Blades**."

Back to the present, he sheathed his sword.

"I hope you guys find peace on the other side." He empathized the evaporating demons.

"Wait, what am I saying? Hmm. I guess Tanjiro's kindness really rubbed it on me."

Before he can take off to another location, BoBoiBoy's ears perked up to hear a person screaming.

"No one had told me! I never signed up for this!" A person wielding a sword is seen crying and running away.

"What's going on over there?" He whispered as he gotten closer. His face morphed into fear as he his behind the tree for cover. He breathes heavily after seeing what he saw.

"What the hell is that thing?" BoBoiBoy peeked his head to see a demon, a huge demon, slowly moving to where the other demon slayer ran to.

Not far from his position, Tanjiro is seen hiding behind the tree as well as him. He also gave the look of fear and covered his nose from the horrid smell the demon gives off.

* * *

"Hey, Sabito..." Makomo asked the older boy. "Do you think Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy can beat that one?"

Sabito replied. "I don't know. No matter how hard you try, it's never enough. You know that well yourself, don't you?"

Makomo didn't answer.

"Although, I see potential in BoBoiBoy and Tanjiro, however, let's just see if they had what it takes to bring down that demon."

The scene changes with the other demon slayer running away like a coward. He lost his footing as he tripped down.

"What's this morphed demon doing here anyway? They didn't tell us!"

The two boys, still in their hiding spots, watched as the morphed demon eats a dead demon slayer on its hand the whole way and caused the demon to grow large in size. The wretched sight made both of them disgusted and made BoBoiBoy vomited.

_'He got eaten! Oh my god! He got eaten and I just watched!' _He thought as he kept vomiting. Combining with the horrendous smell of the demon didn't help either.

The other demon slayer tried running away but the monster stretched one of its arms and grabbed a firm hold on his legs.

Tanjiro gasped. He pushed pass his fear and gripped his sword tightly. He forcibly prevented his legs from shaking. He leapt off from his spot.

_'**Water Breathing, Second Form! Water Wheel!**__'_ He created a water wheel attack pattern and sliced the arm that was holding the demon slayer. BoBoiBoy had gotten over his predicament and caught the demon slayer and laid him down on the ground.

"BoBoiBoy, you're alright!" Tanjiro is glad to see him.

"Never mind me! We have a problem right now!" He said as he addressed the problem which is the monster in front of them.

With its arm sliced off, the morphed demon spotted the masks the two boys had on the sides of their faces.

"Two sweet little foxes has come to me." It said in a male voice.

"Another?" Both repeated.

"Little fox cubs, what is the year of Meiji right now?" It asked for what year.

"Like we ever answer to you, demon!" BoBoiBoy barked.

"It's the Taishō Period right now!" Tanjiro answered for the demon.

"Tanjiro!" He couldn't believe he answered to a demon.

"Taishō?" The demon's eye rolled back and let out a scream that caught all of them off guard.

"Holy crap!!" The demon scratched its skin so hard that blood leaks out. "Time has passed into a new period! Again! Against while I've been held prisoner inside this place! AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!"

"Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki!" The demon whined while trembling its limbs.

"How do you know Mr. Urokodaki?" Tanjiro asked once more.

"I know him, all right! Because Urokodaki is the one who captured me! I'll never forget that day 47 years ago!"

"47 years?" BoBoiBoy said.

"That's right! Back when he was still hunting demons! It was the Edo Period during the Keio Era." It said as it twitches its eyes.

"Hunting demons? Edo Period?" Tanjiro repeats.

"You're lying! No demon has ever lived that long! The only demons in here should be the ones who've eaten just two or three humans! They don't live long because they're killed during Final Selection and they even eaten their own kind!" The demon slayer said.

"No way... Demons also eat their own kind?" BoBoiBoy gasped.

"Yeah, but I've survived all the time. Inside this wisteria prison, I've eaten at least fifty of you brats."

"Fifty?" Tanjiro couldn't believe what he just heard.

"That much?"

The demon began counting using its fingers. "11, 12... 13. That makes you Number 14 and 15!"

"What are you talking about!?" Tanjiro exclaimed.

The morphed demon chuckled. "The number of Urokodaki's disciples I've eaten, that's what. I promised myself to kill every one of his disciples."

Their eyes widen like saucers.

"Don't tell me..."

"Let's see... The ones who particularly stand out to me... it's those two. Those two, that brat's hair was an unusual color. He was the most powerful. He had pinkish hair. A scar by his mouth."

_'Sabito...' _BoBoiBoy recognized those features it described.

"The other one was a female brat in a flowery kimono. She was small and lacking in power but she was awfully agile."

_'That's... Makomo...' _He started to piece them together.

_'It's probably why... I saw them with Mr. Urokodaki! They were dead all this time!' _BoBoiBoy figured out.

"That mask." The demon pointed to their masks. "I can tell by the fox masks. I know the texture of the masks Urokodaki carved. The same style of carving he used for his own goblin mask. Warding mask, right? Everyone got eaten just because they were wearing them."

Both boys are angry as they are breathing heavily.

"They're here inside my belly. Urokodaki might as well have killed them himself!"

"Why you..." BoBoiBoy had a yellow aura around him. His eyes momentarily flashed yellow.

"When I said that to the girl, she was crying and fell into a rage."

"Shut up..."

"And right after that, she lost control of her movements." The demon laughed maniacally.

"Shut up...!"

"I ripped off her limbs one by one, then."

That one final statement had ticked off both of them.

"ENOUGH!" BoBoiBoy charged first followed by Tanjiro. The demon thrusted its multiple arms at them and they slashed them. They were filled with rage as they let out a battle cry.

"Calm down, Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy. Your breathing's uneven. It's all right. Never mind us!" Sabito said.

In their fit of rage, Tanjiro got severely hit by one of the arms and punched him into a tree. The impact had injured his forehead, causing it to bleed and broke his mask. He got knocked out.

"NOOOOO!" BoBoiBoy yelled after him before he got side slapped into a nearby tree and that broke his mask as well.

"Hehehehehe." The demon chuckled as it made its way to Tanjiro. "Another of Urokodaki's brats is dying."

"No... Tanjiro..." BoBoiBoy is trying his damndest to get back up. The blow nearly cracked his spine.

"I wonder how he's gonna feel when another of his kids doesn't come home. I wonder what kind of look he'll have on his face."

"Don't... you... dare..." BoBoiBoy gritted his teeth. How he wished he still have his power watch with him, he could've dealt with the demon sooner.

"Oh man, I wish I could see it. I really do. After I'm done with him, I'll eat up the other brat too."

The arm was getting closer and closer to grabbing Tanjiro.

"No... NOO!" He can't let it happen. No matter what! Using his strength, he sliced off the demon's arm and put on his defensive stance to protect Tanjiro.

_'He blocked it? So, the other brat can still move. Great, that means more fun for me!'_

BoBoiBoy furiously slashed every arm he comes into contact with while protecting Tanjiro. "Don't worry Tanjiro! I'll protect you!"

"Brat! Don't get your hopes up just yet!" The demon aggressively swings one of its arms to try and grab Tanjiro away from BoBoiBoy.

_'I don't think so!'_

He vertically slashed the arm that almost gripped his head.

_'**Total Concentration! Lightning Breathing!**'_

He dodged an arm thrust by jumping high on the air.

_'**Third Form! Thunderbolt!**'_

He brought down his blade powered with lightning and pierced the demon's coming arm, nearly a hair away of grabbing Tanjiro. The attack created a thunder cry and illuminated the whole area.

"Tanjiro! Wake up!" He tries to beckon Tanjiro to wake up, but he's still not showing any signs of waking up.

"You can't defeat me just by slashing off my arms. Then again, even that pink haired brat couldn't slice off my head.

He hacked all the arms off with just his sword powered with lightning. He's growing more exhausted the more he keeps this up.

"Damn it!" He cursed. "I can't do this with just one sword!"

The arms regrew back with no time's spare and all of them are going to barrage them.

_'That's it! I have no choice! It may be in progress but I have to do it!'_

The arms are getting closer to the boys.

_'**Elemental Breathing!**'_

When the arms zoomed on them, they were obliterated within seconds. The demon was shocked as to how it was sliced in mere seconds.

Tanjiro stirred his eyes after being knocked out. He gripped his head in pain after the attack with the demon.

"Hey Tanjiro, you're awake!"

He was about to reply but when he fully opened his eyes, he never expected this to happen!

_'__**First Form!**'_

The morphed demon had its eyes opened wide. Not only it sees one person it was currently fighting but now, three!

_'**Triple Split!**'_

* * *

**There are some things I wanna specify before I'll end part 1;**

**1\. BoBoiBoy's original breathing will now be Lightning. BoBoiBoy will unlock more as he progresses more on to the story.**

**2\. Elemental Breathing/Split is still conceptual and will play a major/minor role, meaning, it's not gonna be shown but it will stay as a concept. What you read on that will be based on what I will input in part 2.**

**3\. Some plot lines may or may not change of how I'll add BoBoiBoy in the mix. It could disrupt the flow of the story and he'll be treated as a secondary main character but that's the point of this fic.**

**4\. I'm not certain if adding more characters like Yaya, Fang, Ying, or Gopal would make an impact in the story but I'm thinking about it in the meantime.**

**5\. I'd like to put in OVAs/Fillers in some chapters to showcase BoBoiBoy of his time in the Taishō Era and a reveal of his powers. But that might be unnecessary to make it but if you guys want it to happen, let me know here.**

**And that's all I wanted to say. I hope you all enjoyed reading part 1 of Final Selection. Part 2 is now in progress. I just have to find the right time and motivation to write it.**

**See you guys in the next chapter :)**


	5. Final Selection Part 2

Heaving gasps escaped BoBoiBoy's mouth as he continued to augment his abilities and his own breathing style in private. He had given Tanjiro time to train on his own as they sparred one another. The victor resulted BoBoiBoy winning first, Tanjiro second after, and vice versa. But he couldn't give up there.

He spent several days working on his breathing technique. To his frustration, he's having trouble getting used to the Water Breathing technique as he realized that his breathing is different compared to his.

BoBoiBoy gasped for air after a failed attempt to utilize the Water Breathing technique. Compared to Tanjiro, he's progressing amazingly well with his breathing technique. He already narrowed it down to the point that he almost mastered it. He gritted his teeth.

"Why...? Why can't I do it?" He banged his fist on the ground to express his anger. For the past days, he didn't have much success. He tried heeding in Urokodaki's teachings. He did everything according to that. Again, it didn't go exactly what he wanted to do.

"Are you having trouble with your breathing, BoBoiBoy?" Makomo questioned as she spectated the ex-TAPOPS member.

BoBoiBoy lost his concentration and fell down in both knees. "Yeah... I can't get a grasp on its capabilities. Am I doing something wrong here or what?"

All the information BoBoiBoy knew is flowing in his head. The techniques in which he had to memorize. The flowing in your body while in deep focus. All he did was replicating them in reality. But alas, nothing came up so far.

"Actually, you are."

His head sprang up. "Huh?"

"You remembered Mr. Urokodaki's words and teachings. You indeed memorized them all, but it doesn't mean you can bring them out into the open just like what you were doing. In other words, you memorized them as a fact. You're driven determination is what makes your flow uneasy and hyped up."

He listened intently to what Makomo is trying to tell him. She continued correcting him his mistakes of his training and gave him multiple suggestions to his training regime.

"All this time, I've been doing it all wrong!" BoBoiBoy facepalmed for being a complete dunce.

She giggled. "I had a feeling that you wouldn't be able to notice it. But thankfully, I'm here to tell you about it."

BoBoiBoy smiled at Makomo. "Thank you so much, Makomo! I'll promise, I'll work hard for my own good!"

With that said, he sped away to search for Tanjiro somewhere. Makomo watched his disappearing figure zooming out of the forest. Sabito appeared along side after he left.

"Didn't I tell you not to help BoBoiBoy with his training?" He sounded mad but Makomo is unfazed of his demeanor.

"He needs to know, otherwise, he never would have master his other breathing techniques."

Sabito sighed in his fox mask. "But still, he should do this on his own. I'll be waiting until the time comes." He started to disappear and Makomo followed.

In the next days, BoBoiBoy did as what Makomo told him. Right now, he's in his meditating stance. He focused deeply into his whole being remained calm.

_'Mastering one technique would be difficult for anyone with no physical and mental experience. Luckily for me, I've been training with Tok Kasa and I honed what he taught me, combined with Mr. Urokodaki's.'_

He breathed slowly and generating slow air into his mouth and blew them out gently. The trees around him swayed in a calm breeze of the wind that picked up. It was a warm, sunny day outside. So he did this training, shirtless.

_'If what Makomo said is true, then I need to change my style in order to draw out my hidden power. To what she told me, meditating is the first step. Since it's all about mental training, I've gotta make this into full effort if I wanna catch up to Tanjiro.'_

His two hands formed into an 'O' shape as he continued to feel the energy in him. He could feel the warmness, not just from the sun's heat, but the warmness in his body. And surely after that, BoBoiBoy feels like he's floating.

_'I did this many times before, but this time, it feels so... natural. This sensation is quite incomparable to what I've been doing. Now to draw out my power, I need to...'_

He breathed in the air slowly, sucking in the air until he generated enough to release them all out in one exhalation.

_'**Total Concentration!**'_

His eyes snapped wide open.

_'**Lightning Breathing!**'_

His eyes scanned for a nearby object. There weren't many objects in the area except the trees. With that in mind, they could be good target practices.

_'**Second ****Form!**'_

A sound of thunder can be heard. Although not a single cloud is hovering above the blue sky, instead, it was BoBoiBoy, who darted past the tree and sliced it with his sword in half. The tree came tumbling down and landed with a big crash.

_'**Electric Stab!**'_

* * *

_'__I spent four months perfecting my Lightning Breathing technique. If I can't master the Water Breathing technique, then __I'll do it with just my current one for now.'_

He decided to activate his Heightened Senses to try and further himself in these trying times. There were times activating this abilities gave him a massive headache and rendered him immobile for a day or two. However, he's able to overcome that side effect by sheer effort and training.

_'I practiced my external senses more often just to give me a clear head and more time to react faster.'_BoBoiBoy practiced by having to balance on the tip of the branches. He wobbled and ended up falling down on the ground comically. Next, he went and trained his swordsmanship skills. Having to go BoBoiBoy Lightning should have been easy as he is more adept at that form. BoBoiBoy would have to learn this the hard way if he wants to defend himself from strong demons next time.

_'I trained like crazy. I started developing more than I ever could. Tanjiro looks like he's done with his training but I'm not stopping there! Later, I encountered a wild animal.'_While in his training, he encountered a wild boar since BoBoiBoy kept going from one place to another away from Tanjiro and Urokodaki's home. The wild boar charged head on towards BoBoiBoy, who remained calm in his spot.

_'__**Lightning Breathing, Fifth Form, Shock Dance.**'_

BoBoiBoy vanished in a speed of light and zigzagged across the forest, leaving the wild boar rearing its head around to look for its prey. BoBoiBoy reappeared behind the boar and slashed the wild carnivore.

The next scene shows him cooking the boar along with Tanjiro. They both happily munched down on the cooked boar that BoBoiBoy caught for them. Tanjiro asked where he got the fresh meat of the boar and BoBoiBoy answered him meekly.

_'Soon after that, I made progress. Two months had passed and I was able to make the Water Breathing Technique at last!'__'**Water Breathing! Fourth Form! Striking **_**_Tide!_**_' _He successfully performed the spell and slashed a bamboo stick in front of him. He couldn't contain his excitement as he finally got it down right.

Makomo watched him from far away. She couldn't contain a smile as it already spread across her face. She's proud of his achievement in doing the Water Breathing technique.

_'I started doing my own moves, and to my amazement, shock and surprise, my breathing barely resembles my old powers, and speaking of them, I accidentally did something that would change my mind about my powers.'_Still doing his breathing technique, he yelped in surprise when a thunderstorm cracked in the sky. He looked above to see dark clouds plaguing the once blue sky and gusts of winds entered the fray. A heavy storm is approaching.

Realizing his mistake, BoBoiBoy made no struggle to get back as he kept running to his home, Urokodaki's home. Thunder strikes on the tall trees and one of them almost hit BoBoiBoy. He clenched his teeth as he tried his best to not get hit by one. There are instances the earth beneath would tremble from the consecutive lightning that strikes above.

He breathed rapidly to get back to Urokodaki's home. He made a great mistake by running out into an open field and finally, thunder struck him down, screaming in agonizing pain, leaving him unconscious there while the rain poured him down.

_'I got hit by the thunder. Well, thankfully I survived. But when I woke up, to the spot I was knocked out of, I awoke to see this.'_He found himself staring at four pairs of brown orbs staring back at him. His dumbfounded expression didn't leave his facial features. He recognized this person. In fact, he remembered these two people.

BoBoiBoy looked and examined himself. He felt really flabbergasted as he saw his robe coloured in a tinted brown. His haori changed colour and it was colour brown but leaving a hue of black on the bottom part of the haori.

This person, the one he's in control, is undoubtedly, **BoBoiBoy Earth.**"What's going on!?" A boy similar to Earth spoke up for them. His countenance spells confusion and worry altogether. His clothing is similar to Earth's yet coloured tinted blue. His haori is a matching blue.

This person is **BoBoiBoy Wind!**

"This... This can't be real!" Another boy exclaimed in an astounded demeanor. His clothes are slightly yellow like his haori except this had black zig-zag patterns on the bottom part.

This person is **BoBoiBoy Lightning!**"How...? How is it possible?"_'We stood there, our minds racing in this tense atmosphere. Eventually, I was able to calm myself and discussed with them for a while on how on Earth I was able to momentarily split! It must be from the lightning strike that happened probably yesterday or a few hours ago, god knows what time had passed. But we didn't understand how it happened. It didn't make any lick of sense whatsoever.'__'But it didn't matter at the least. I can now split! I can now do Elemental Split! I think I still have more to go before I'll unlock the rest. In the meantime, I practiced my breathing, which I will call **Elemental Breathing **from now on, but I run out of time.'__'__It was when me and Tanjiro faced off Sabito. I didn't use my breathing and I basically went with my instincts. My sense are keener than they should've.'_He sheathed his sword as he finally got done with his training regime and went home to Tanjiro and Urokodaki, who were waiting for his return.

* * *

Back to the present at hand, Earth looked at his hands and was astonished that the breathing technique worked. "Yes! It worked!"

Wind copied. "All right!"

"Hmph." Lightning crossed his arms.

Tanjiro, still sitting on the ground after his unconsciousness, has his eyes glued to the mysterious three people. Not to mention, they all look just like BoBoiBoy.

"B-BoBoiBoy...?" Tanjiro stuttered, still staring wide eyed. His hands are still trembling.

Earth faced him. "Don't worry. I'll explain later. But for now." He directed his head to the morphed demon.

"It's time to slay a demon, wouldn't you two agree?"

When he meant two, he meant Wind and Lightning. The nodded in agreement and got into their stances.

The monster stood idle, shocked at the revelation of BoBoiBoy who had the ability to split into three.

"Well, then." The demon sprouted out more arms. "Since there are four of you now, it will keep my belly satiated when I eat all of you!"

"On your guards!" Earth commanded. Wind and Lightning both got on guard. Tanjiro hesitated but he put on his guard as well. He's equally confused as the demon that seemed confused but went with the flow anyway. It's quite an unexpected advantage now that there is no manpower shortage among the boys.

The demon thrusted all of its green arms to the boys. All of them jumped out of the way. Wind came thrusting his sword down on one of its arms and continued slashing the rest. Earth teamed up with Tanjiro and slashed any remains that were coming right for them. Lightning solo-ed the arms by himself since he is more experienced with wielding a sword before.

Once the arms are dealt with, they slowly regenerated back into their original shape like nothing ever happened.

"Hey, just so you know!" Wind said sharply. "I don't have a breathing technique!"

All of them, except Earth, turned towards Wind. "What?"

Earth raised his hand. "I'm not gonna lie, I also don't have a breathing technique as well. It's because me and Wind don't have the ability to forge our own breathing while we split."

Lightning clicked his tongue. "So that just leaves me and Tanjiro with breathing techniques then. Well, this sucks."

"Wai, hold on, what about the Water Breathing? Can't you guys use it?" Lightning asked.

Earth shook his head. "We can't. That breathing is incompatible to us."

"I have no idea what you just said but it doesn't sound good on my case!" Tanjiro is sweating beads after hearing the bad news.

"We'll distract the demon. Lightning, protect Tanjiro at all costs!" Earth ordered Lightning to guard Tanjiro.

"We can't just let this one go!" Tanjiro said. "Before any more lives are sacrificed, we gotta bring him down now!"

Earth and Wind scattered around the battlefield and deflected the demon's attacks with their swords. Even without their breathing techniques, they're still able to effectively slice the demon's arms thanks to their training.

"You think just because I'll be distracted by your plan doesn't mean I'm letting my eyes go from those brats!" The demon quickly emerged more hands out of its body and thrusted more at the Earth and Wind.

Tanjiro and Lightning sliced the demon's hands one by one. Giant arms emerged out of the ground but thanks to their enhanced senses, they evaded it.

_'T-they jumped! Dammit, I missed them! Yeah, but no way can they dodge these attacks in mid-air!'_

The demon thought as the arms quickly zoomed on their faces.

"Do you think they're going to lose, too? His neck is so tough after all." Makomo questioned her partner.

"They may lose, and yet, they may win." Sabito gave his head and tail. "Either way, there's one irrefutable fact. That Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy... are the men who sliced the toughest, largest boulder of all."

"Now!" Earth and Wind intervened and helped sliced the arms before they can get ahold of Tanjiro and Lightning.

_'They slashed my arms off before I cam get them!'_Tanjiro used his two feet to get on the arm and ran to rhe demon's head. While the arms are trying to get to Tanjiro, Lightning used his Lightning Breathing to intercept its attacks.

_'**Total Concentration! Water Breathing!**' _Tanjiro gathers air in his mouth and sliced the oncoming arms. He leapt off from the arm and was ready to slice the demon's head off.

_'He got too close to me! Not to worry. My neck is tough! He can't slash it!' _The demon thought, completely forgotten about the other three.

_'**First Form!**'__'As soon as he fails to cut my neck, I'm going to crush his head! Just like I did to the other one!'_Before the arms can get grab Tanjiro, Earth, Wind, and Lightning simultaneously slashed the arms before it can reach him. They all heard the sound of the thread that popped out from their ears and saw it.

"Do it now, Tanjiro!" They encouraged him to deliver the final blow.

And so he did, Tanjiro slashed its neck off completely, leaving only blood to gush out where the neck used to be.

_'**Water Surface Slash!**'_

* * *

**I know it's a short chapter but I can end Part 2 of the Final Selection episode right over here. I'll be continuing it off in the next chapter which might come out this week. Depends on how school will treat me but I'll do what I can to bring you all another one.****Hope everyone enjoys this short chapter and I'll see you guys later. :D**


	6. My Own Steel

A scene shows a settlement in minor flames and some blood splattered on the walls. A lifeless person is seen laying on the ground and lantern broken and burning on the snow covered ground. Also, a demon is seen devouring a dead person on the neck. His feast was interrupted when he spotted a person with a mask and with a sword on his side. The masked person remained on his spot. The demon sprang on his feet and began attacking his new-found prey, hoping he would eat him next. However, the masked person blocked the demon's attacks with slight ease.

Having no chance, the demon retreated somewhere and hide from the attacker. Blood trickled down his bloody face from his earlier feast on the dead human. He breathed heavily when the masked person approached the demon slowly. The demon made a tactical retreat once again, hoping to escape from this masked person. He stopped to look behind him to see him not following the demon anymore.

Little did the demon know, the masked person stood on top of a roof, overlooking down on the demon. He sprang upwards. The demon heard it and turned around to be met with a slice to the neck from the masked person's sword.

Back to reality, in the demon's eyes, Tanjiro's image was replaced with a masked person that he encountered from before. This masked person is the younger version of Urokodaki.

"Urokodaki!" The demon exclaimed before he got his neck sliced off by Tanjiro. The head flew in multiple directions and landed near the tree.

"You did it!" Wind cheered from the side from witnessing Tanjiro's impressive and successful attack.

"Hmph. Way to go, Tanjiro." Lightning smirked.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" The demon cursed as he watched the remains of his body being reduced into nothing but ashes slowly. Tanjiro sheathed his sword while watching the body disintegrating.

"..." Earth stayed silent as he spectated the monster's head.

_"Dammit! To think the faces of the Demon Hunters will be the last that I'll ever see..."_

When Tanjiro turned to look at the demon, his face isn't filled with malice nor with satisfaction. It's filled with sadness.

_"How did it come to this?"_

_"I'm so scared. I'm so alone." _In his mind-set, his human form cried into a void of darkness surrounding him.

_"Brother, where are you? I want you to hold my hand. Like you always do!"_

Tanjiro slowly walked over to the demon's decaying body. The only body that hasn't reduce to ashes yet is the hand.

_"Why on earth did I bite you to death, big brother?"_

_"Huh?" _His human face was no longer there and instead, it was replaced with a demon's version of it.

"Wait, who's this 'Brother' person?"

Tanjiro got up in front of the demon's hand. A somber expression presented on his face.

"You're doing what I think you're doing, huh?" Earth whispered to Tanjiro.

"What a sad scent." He did what Earth and the others didn't expect and hold onto the demon's hand with both hands. The hand's fingers then tightened. The demon teared up after seeing the act. The demon's head already faded.

"Tanjiro..." Earth said in a low whisper. His split forms only watched in silence.

"God, please..." Tanjiro started praying while bringing the hand to his forehead. The demon, in the void of darkness, stood up when he saw a light in a distance.

"The next time this man is reborn. Please make sure he doesn't turn into a demon."

The demon ran into the light which turned out to be his brother holding a lantern and walking. "Brother! Brother! Hold my hand, will you?"

The brother did what the younger brother had wanted and held his hand. "You're hopeless, you know? Still such a scaredy-cat."

The hand Tanjiro is holding is now gone. Although, his face still showed sadness, it is later replaced with determination.

"Sabito, Makomo..." His voice is lower than a whisper. He looked forward to see all the dead children, Urokodaki's disciples including Sabito and Makomo, present. "...and everyone else who were killed... I won."

He received a pat on the shoulder. He looked over to see Earth patting him for a job well done.

Tanjiro smiled. "You can rest easy now. I guess you're going home as promised. Even though you're just souls, you're going back to Mt. Sagiri..."

The children disappeared one by one. Makomo was the last to disappear after she smiled sincerely directly to the boys.

"...and to Mr. Urokodaki whom you love very much. I'd ended up dead, my soul would've returned there, too."

He finished as he looked up to the starry night and the crescent moon. Mindless thoughts ran through his head. Sabito and Makomo can now rest in peace after what he had done to the demon. They don't deserve such a fateful demise like that. But he hoped in his heart, they found peace on the other side.

"Are you okay, Tanjiro?" BoBoiBoy, who merged back into his original form, asked him with concern. Tanjiro told him he's okay. Although, one question lingered in his mind.

"Now is it the time to tell me how you... clone yourself?" He got curious after seeing BoBoiBoy's multiple versions of himself. If it's a sort of breathing technique, Tanjiro would want to have that as well. It would be a great asset if he's ever in a dire situation.

"It's called **Elemental Breathing**. I created this breathing by myself. I don't think it can be learned though." BoBoiBoy told him the half truth. Surely he discovered this breathing by accident but he didn't actually made one. It was a technical mistake he did.

"I figured as much." Tanjiro sighed.

* * *

After the wholesome event with the morphed demon, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy went their opposite ways and try to survive the Final Selection for seven days. One could say it was a terrible plan for the thought of having to split up in the woods filled with demons but they thought it was efficient to cover more ground just like the plan they made up an hour ago.

BoBoiBoy is sprinting away from the demon who is coming after him with bloodlust in his eyes. Thanks to his acrobatic movements, BoBoiBoy managed to get on top of the tree branch and jumped high enough to deliver a decisive blow directly to the demon's chest area. The demon walloped in pain as the blade bursted in his chest.

"There's something I wanna ask you." BoBoiBoy said, still locking the blade into the demon's chest.

"How do I turn someone who's become a demon back into a human?" He felt stupid for asking this question as the demon didn't answer his question and instead spat at him. BoBoiBoy sighed and decided to end his misery by cutting off the demon's head.

"No matter what I say to them, it won't get to them! They're really persistent on wanting to eat me." BoBoiBoy hears footsteps approaching and found two new demons with an intent to kill BoBoiBoy.

"You there!" He pointed his blade at them. "Is there any chance that any of you would tell me how to turn someone who had become a demon back into a human?"

Again, he received snarls from them and jumped at him. BoBoiBoy clicked his tongue and slashed their heads off neatly.

"Again... Nothing." He sprinted off to another location and finding a place where he can rest. "I hope Tanjiro got what he need from the demons. Although I highly doubt it considering they speak nothing but wanting meat in their mouths."

He heard a high pitched scream and made him stop to hear where it came from. Not far from his location, he saw a girl running away from a demon that is chasing after her.

"No! Stay away from me!" She pleaded as she dropped her sword and continued to run away from the demon. BoBoiBoy couldn't let this slide. Someone is in danger.

"**Lightning Breathing, ****Sixth ****Form, Bolt Zap!**"

The girl was about to get slashed by the demon's claws. She braced for the impact but later, nothing came. What she heard next is the sound of lightning zooming past her and the next thing she see is a demon's head laid out in front of her. She recoiled back in horror. She never felt terrified her whole life. She wondered why she entered Final Selection in the first place.

She was about to cry when she sees a hand extended to her. She looked up, tears in her eyes, and saw BoBoiBoy offering her a hand.

"Are you okay?" His voice was gentle. She took a moment to look at his hand before accepting it and helped her back up on her feet.

"Th-Thank you..." She thanked him in a low voice but it was enough for BoBoiBoy to hear it because of his enhanced hearing.

"You're welcome. All in a day's work for a hero to come to the rescue." He posed comedically and caused the girl to sweatdrop at his action. Silence wafted between them after the event earlier. He happened to be staring at her for quite a while. She has butterfly accessories on her hair and she has ocean blue eyes. Her haori is dyed in blue and her robe is coloured white.

"Uhhm..." He started out awkwardly. "My name's BoBoiBoy. What's yours?"

She fumbled between her words before she faced him completely.

"I'm... Aoi. Aoi Kanzaki." She introduced herself.

"Well Aoi, if you want, you can come with me so you won't have to be alone. It's pretty dangerous around here." He offered her his help. She didn't knew this would happened. Her plan was to wait out for this event to blow over. If she went with him, chances of her survival will rise. But then, she barely knew him and had trouble trusting anyone she meets.

"I appreciate your help after saving me but..." She trailed off. "I think I'm fine by myself."

He was unsure of this. She was clearly running away from a demon that was planning to kill her. What other chances will she have if she can't defend herself like that?

"Are you sure you're really okay? Something like that might happen to you again." BoBoiBoy worriedly said. It's his natural way of expressing care for others even though they're complete strangers.

Aoi nodded. "I'll be okay. Thanks again for saving me." She picked up her sword that she dropped and took off, leaving BoBoiBoy alone.

_'This is a terrible decision.' _He thought in his head. But surely, she has a plan to survive this event in seven days. _'Stay safe Aoi.'_

He took off to another direction to get away further from the demon's territorial forest. His thoughts lingered back to the morphed demon, the demons earlier and Aoi. So many stuff transpired lately and that caused him a bit dizzy. He learned to get used to these sort of things by being here in this world. BoBoiBoy had already accepted the fact that fate brought him here to redeem himself. If there was something he ever done to deserve this, then he would gave this one a second chance if he must. In exchange for doing something good in his life, there is always misfortune that follows. He believed that to be the case.

His sprint came to a halt as he sensed something coming here. It sounded faint but its getting closer.

_'What's that sound? I hear swords clashing.' _He stood his guard and to his prediction, he found the source of the sound. He quickly jumped out of the way when he spotted a hurling figure coming his way.

He landed not too far from the mysterious person. _'Who's this guy?'_ He inspected his new opponent. The muscular body shape and form made this person identified as a male. He wore no type of top clothing and only his pants that were made by some type of leather were clearly displayed. The swords were strapped on his sides. The most noticable feature this guy has is a boar mask.

"You there! Fight me!" He pointed to BoBoiBoy and unsheathed his dual swords. BoBoiBoy blocked them using his sword and he got pushed back by this person's unbelievable strength.

"Who are you!?" BoBoiBoy demanded to know as to why this guy is suddenly attacking him. The guy only kept attacking BoBoiBoy with no signs of stopping. He only deflected his wild attacks with his sword. Each clash from the guy's sword had more force than he can block.

_'What's with this guy!?' _He grew irritated. BoBoiBoy continued to deflect most of his attacks.

"C'mon! Attack me! Throw everything you have at me!" He threw the swords at BoBoiBoy. He shifted his body and managed to avoid the swords but got headbutted in the stomach by the guy in a boar mask. He was sent flying and fell on the ground.

"Dammit..." He grabbed his stomach in pain and stood up slowly.

"Is that all you got!?" The guy grew impatient. BoBoiBoy had enough and snapped at his unexpected new opponent.

"Right! Who are you!? And why are you attacking me!?"

He didn't listen, unfortunately, and threw more punches at him. He realized he didn't have his swords with him and was fighting BoBoiBoy barehanded.

"Listen to me!" He sheathed his sword and fought on a one to one battle barehanded. He knew a thing or two about close quarters combat so he fared pretty much with this guy. Even though he lacks combat experience, BoBoiBoy scored hits on the guy albeit he can't keep up with him.

"I don't want to hurt you! I just want to talk!" BoBoiBoy protested and tried to reason with him

He laughed. "Hahahahaha! Now that's what I'm talking about! I wanted this to happen! A fair fight!"

BoBoiBoy grew confused. "What are you—"

Before he can finish, demons showed up in the same place they are.

_'Great. More enemies. Can't this night get any wors__e?' _He was about to fight the demons but the boar guy quickly picked a fight with them. BoBoiBoy really wanted to help but seeing as how the guy in the boar mask handled him barehanded, he thought it was okay for him to handle them by himself. He used this opportunity and escaped the battlefield, letting the guy fend for himself against the demons.

_'Now I look like such a coward. I wish I could've helped him back there. But then again, he would try to fight me again.' _His head was debating of the choice he had made. Not for long, he heard a sound which sounded like thunder. He gasped as a yellow flash zoomed past his vision.

"Was that a... yellow blur?" His mind is racing with these new things coming to him. He thought it was best to leave these thoughts away and kept running to the direction he has suppose to be heading.

Soon enough, he ran out of breath to run any further. He exhausted all his stamina after he dealt with the mysterious boar guy. He kneel down on the ground.

_'I'm so tired... I need a break.'_

Before he can move, he moved his head around him and noticed that he is under the Wisteria flowers blooming even at night.

"Wisteria...?" BoBoiBoy felt relieved and slumped down on the ground.

"I made it..." He added. "I hope your safe as well, Tanjiro."

* * *

7 days have passed. The Final Selection almost came to a close. Only 5 slayers presented.

"Only four of us? But there were at least twenty." Tanjiro wondered how the huge number count had been reduced to roughly five of them.

BoBoiBoy looked around for any signs of the guy in a boar mask anywhere. So far, he found no one in particular. _"He probably... No... I shouldn't think of that. It's my fault for leaving him alone."_ He gritted his teeth in frustration.

He didn't see Aoi anywhere around either. If anything, she could've gotten into trouble with some demons and she couldn't defend herself from it. How idiotic he was from not being able to convince her to come with him.

_'It's alright. She'd probably survive somewhere and didn't make it here. That's gotta be it... right?'_

"I don't see that guy anywhere. It's all because I blacked out at that moment."

Tanjiro looked down in shame. "I couldn't save him."

BoBoiBoy watched as Tanjiro takes the blame for himself for not saving the guy. A whimper caught their attention.

"I'm gonna die. I'm a goner. Even if I survive now, I'm gonna die in the end anyway." A boy with yellow-orange hair said with a tone filled with fear. BoBoiBoy recognized him from the beginning of when they arrived in Final Selection.

"Hey, excuse me?" BoBoiBoy called out to him but he didn't face to him. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not. I'm gonna die because I survived Final Selection." He shivered.

"At least you're still here and alive right?" That sentence is enough to have his head twirled towards his. "Don't feel afraid just because of that. It's all in the past now."

It almost calmed him down but the shakiness in his eyes are still there. He faced down on the ground and didn't spout anything anymore.

BoBoiBoy figured he successfully calmed the boy down. "I'm BoBoiBoy. And you are?"

"Uhh... Zenitsu Agatsuma." He shakily introduced himself before looking back down to the ground.

When he look to his left, he saw the girl from seven days ago. He stared at her in disbelief as to how she managed to survive in the demon filled forest unscathed and no scratches or bruises.

She happened to make eye contact at him but didn't say anything. She continued to stare at him with a smile before her eyes wandered elsewhere.

_'She's... weird.' _

"Welcome back." The two twins on the front said simultaneously.

"Congratulations." Hinaki said.

"We're pleased to see that you're safe." Nichika said.

"So? What am I suppose to do now? Where's my sword?" The guy with scars on his face said impatiently.

_'I have a bad feeling about that guy. His tone didn't betray his face.' _BoBoiBoy stared at the boy with messy hair.

"First, we shall issue you all uniforms. We will take your measurements, after which your rank will be engraved." Hinaki told them.

"Ranks?" BoBoiBoy mumbled.

"There are ten ranks in all..."

"Kinoe."

"Kinoto."

"Hinoe."

"Hinoto."

"Tsuchinoe."

"Tsuchinoto."

"Kanoe."

"Kanoto."

"Mizunoe."

"...and Mizunoto."

"Currently, you are at the lowest rank, Mizunoto."

_'And I thought my rank is the lowest of the low...' _BoBoiBoy comically cried as he remembered his rank as a TAPOPS member. He still wondered to this as to how Yaya and Ying are Lieutenants already.

"And our swords?" The scar faced boy said growing more impatient.

"Today, we will let you choose the ore for your swords." Hinaki mentioned. "However, the swords will take ten to fifteen days to complete."

"Are you kidding me?" He sighed and muttered in disappointment.

"But first..." Hinaki clapped her hands twice and the sounds of crows can be heard upwards. Each crow landed on top of the slayers' shoulder.

"We will assign each of you your own Kasugai Crow." Hinaki said.

"Kasugai Crow?" Tanjiro muttered as he looked at his crow.

"These Kasugai Crows can be used primarily for communication." Nichika informed them.

"Did you say 'crow'?" Zenitsu asked in disbelief. "Isn't this a sparrow, though?"

"You're not alone, dude." BoBoiBoy sweatdropped as he has his own 'crow'. Although, this one is also a sparrow like Zenitsu's as well. "I admit. He looks cute."

BoBoiBoy and Zenitsu got startled by the sound of the scar faced guy. "Don't give me that crap!"

He swatted his crow away and looked at them with an angry expression. He walked past Tanjiro and exclaimed.

"Who the hell cares about some stupid crow?" He walked forward and stopped in front of Hinaki. He gripped her hair and brought it up to meet his face.

"I want a sword, you hear?" He said this to her with intimidation. "Gimme one right one! The Demon Slayers' sword! The Color Changing Sword!"

Having enough of this, Tanjiro gripped onto his arm that was gripping Hinaki's hair.

"Take your hand off her! Or else, I'll break your arm!" Tanjiro warned him.

"You go Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy cheered silently.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" He asked to Tanjiro.

Zenitsu gasped in surprise to what is happening right now. "Wh-Wh-Wh-What should I do?" He panicked.

BoBoiBoy reassured him. "Don't worry. He got this."

Zenitsu calmed down a bit and trusted his judgment and watch what will happen next.

"Let's see you try it!" He dared Tanjiro to do it. Tanjiro breathed and is slowly crushing his arm. he cried in pain from the grip. Zenitsu gasped and the girl watched the scene unfold in front of her.

"See? He got him good." BoBoiBoy said with a proud tone.

The scar faced boy backed away from having his arm almost crushed by Tanjiro. Tanjiro glared at him.

"Are you finished chatting?" Nichika breaks the silence between them.

Afterwards, Nichika pulled away a purple cloth that hides the ores needed for forging swords.

"Now then, please select an ore. The steel for the sword that will annihilate demons and protect you will be of your own choosing." Nichika offered them a choice to pick one ore.

"Well, not that I'm going to live very long. Probably." Zenitsu uttered with a long face.

"Zenitsu, don't say that. You can make it if you believe in yourself. Trust me." BoBoiBoy smiled at him and tried to encourage him. Zenitsu looked at him with a surprised face. He looked like he is about to cry but held it in.

All five them of them are standing in front of the table with ores placed on top.

_'They're asking us to choose, but how are we supposed to pick one out? I've never seen an ore before, and I can't tell the difference anyway.'_

"I absolutely have no clue." The scar faced boy muttered as he try to pick one for himself.

Tanjiro looked back once more at the ores. His nose caught a scent of one ore that stood out from the rest. He walked forward and picked up one.

"I choose this one." Tanjiro said as he grabbed his desired ore.

"What do you think, Tanjiro?" BoBoiBoy asked for his opinion.

"This is the one I want. I know it because I feel it." Tanjiro answered.

_'Right. He can just detect the scent of the ore and chose it because it's unique or something.' _BoBoiBoy thought.

"So... should I go first or you?" BoBoiBoy asked Zenitsu to his side.

He shook his head. "You go first."

BoBoiBoy nodded and walked forward. Like Tanjiro, he had never seen an ore before. Every one of them are the same as the rest. He glanced over to Tanjiro and he nodded his head for good luck.

Taking his time to decide, he activated his Heightened Sense. His vision, hearing, and touch increased twice. He inspected the ores with detailed observation. What caught his eye is the ore that looked larger than the rest. This ore is really tough to the touch but feels lighter for some reason. When he slightly squeezed the ore, he felt a mix of sensations, like a second it was warm and a second later it was cold.

"What's the holdup? Hurry up and choose one already!" The scar faced boy exclaimed.

Not wanting to keep them waiting any longer, BoBoiBoy made up his mind and chose this.

"I'll pick this one."

The scene changed with a Kasugai Crow explaining the details to the master of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"I see." He pet the crow's head with his index finger. "As many as five or six of them managed to survive, huh? Excellent. The number of my children has increased again. I wonder what kind of swordsmen they'll become.

* * *

It was already dusk as the two boys are trying to march their way back into Mt. Sagiri. Tanjiro used a supporting stick to traverse his way back to Mt. Sagiri. BoBoiBoy helpes him with his bag he was carrying. Both are in an exhausted state.

"Sorry, Nezuko." Tanjiro uttered. "I never got to ask them... how to turn a demon back into a human."

"No Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy heaved. "It's not... your fault... that they didn't answer..."

Tanjiro wanted to answer but he couldn't as he dropped on the ground.

"Tanjiro!" BoBoiBoy knelt beside Tanjiro and helped him up. He swung Tanjiro's arm around his shoulder for support.

"Here. I'll help you. Just... don't move too much..." Even though he is as tired as Tanjiro right now, he still has enough strength to carry Tanjiro.

"Thanks. I appreciate it..." Tanjiro expressed his gratitude with his smile. Together, they're taking it slow and walked at a slower pace than usual. The sun had already set and they made it back to Urokodaki's home.

"We... made it." BoBoiBoy released Tanjiro and have him stand up on his two feet.

"Nezuko... Mr. Urokodaki..." He desperately wanted to see them after the whole journey. The sound of the door being destroyed brought their attention on the person who busted it open. Nezuko walked out like nothing had happened.

"Hey! Nezuko!" Tanjiro dropped his supporting stick. "You... So, you're awake!?"

BoBoiBoy only stood there, eyes widen at seeing Nezuko awake and well after these two years.

Nezuko responded by running to them.

"Nezuko!" He wanted to reach her but he tripped and fell down. He tried to get but was tackled by a hug from Nezuko. BoBoiBoy stood beside them.

Tanjiro clutched onto Nezuko and cried. "Why... Why'd you fall asleep all of a sudden? Never waking up once! I was worried you were going to die, you know?!" He sniffed.

Urokodaki was picking up logs for making a fire when he spotted Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy, safe and sound. He dropped the logs and approached to them.

"Mr. Urokodaki, we—" BoBoiBoy didn't finish what he was going to say when Urokodaki hugged all of them.

"You two came back to us alive." He said as he was crying and tears poured out from the side of his mask. BoBoiBoy can tell when somebody is feeling right now by hearing their tones. A trait he got by training. He sounded so relieved and joyful to see them both come back alive.

"Mr. Urokodaki..." BoBoiBoy sniffed and cried as well. He haven't felt this kind of feeling in a long time. He can remember being hugged like this from Tok Aba. He melt from the hug and hugged Urokodaki back.

* * *

"I see. You killed that morphed demon." Urokodaki said while sitting across Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"Yes." Tanjiro replied.

"Now the children can rest in peace thanks to Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy added.

"You also helped me back there so thanks BoBoiBoy." Tanjiro smiled.

"At last. I'm truly impressed that both of you made it back."

"Yes/Yeah." They said with different answers.

"There are several kinds of demons. Although, I told this to you BoBoiBoy so I'm going to explain it for Tanjiro again."

BoBoiBoy nodded.

"The demons who use a special spell called the **Blood Demon Art **possess supernatural abilities. You two may have to fight those demons, as well, from now on. And battling them will be far more difficult than anything you've known until now. Even so, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy, I'm sure you two will be fine."

They were surprised by this. "Right."

"I think that Nezuko's not like the other demons. Do you think it could be that Whatchamacallit Art?" Tanjiro asked. BoBoiBoy giggled and corrected him that it's **Blood Demon Art.**

"No, I don't think so." Urokodaki opinionated. "I wouldn't call that an example of the **Blood Demon Art.** I'm just guessing here but it could be that Nezuko's recovering her strength by sleeping instead of consuming human flesh."

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy looked at Nezuko sleeping again. They sat against the wall to keep an eye on her.

"Would you like at that? She's sleeping again." BoBoiBoy grinned. "That could be a habit of her."

"I wouldn't say that." Tanjiro nudged BoBoiBoy's arm playfully. Later, they had the time to make fun of each other, tell jokes, and play some made-up games, mostly from BoBoiBoy to Tanjiro and vice versa. It had been a long while since they have fun from these trying times. With Tanjiro's family now gone, Tanjiro had begin to view BoBoiBoy as a brother to him. Their friendship ascended into new heights ever since Tanjiro found him amidst in the snow. Tanjiro is very lucky to have someone like him in his life before his family except Nezuko were taken away from him.

Since BoBoiBoy never had any siblings to begin with, he treated Tanjiro as if he is his long lost brother. Something about him just made him want to be with him in their journey in this world. BoBoiBoy might not interact much with Nezuko but it's obvious that he has taken a liking to the demon Kamado sibling. It's a surreal feeling but it's a new chance to make new changes for himself and to adapt in this new world. He'd start a second life here if he wanted to.

"Nezuko, I'll protect you." Tanjiro gaze at Nezuko's sleeping figure.

"We." BoBoiBoy corrected him. "We'll protect Nezuko together."

Tanjiro smiled genuinely at BoBoiBoy and the latter responded in the same manner. They fell asleep afterwards.

**15 DAYS LATER**

Two men in straw hats with bells on the sides and goblin masks are seen walking and approaching the home of Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy, who are waiting for them.

The yellow floral patterned haori man stopped in front of Tanjiro and the man in a blue floral patterned haori man stopped in front of BoBoiBoy.

"Uh..." Tanjiro had no idea what to say to this man.

"My name is Haganezuka. I have forged Tanjiro Kamado's sword and I am here to deliver it." Haganezuka introduced himself.

"And I'm Kazuhiro Hisashi. I have forged BoBoiBoy's **Nichirin Blade **and was sent here to deliver it for him." Kazuhiro also introduced himself towards them.

The boys bowed down to show their respect.

"Um, I'm Tanjiro Kamado. Please come inside." Tanjiro gestured for them to come inside the house.

Haganezuka ignore his offer. "This is the **Nichirin Sword** and I forged it."

"Please, come in so we can serve you two some tea." BoBoiBoy tried to offer them their hospitality but they ignore it and went on explaining about how they forged the swords.

"The materials for a **NIchirin Sword **can be obtained from the mountain closest to the sun. Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore. These produce steel that can absorb sunlight."

"Wow, is that right?" Tanjiro said trying to sound interested.

"Mt Yoko is bathed in sunlight all day long, you see. Never a cloud in the sky, nor any rain."

"There they go again never listening to what the others say..." Urokodaki commented from the inside.

"You're going to get dirty. so could you get up for a second?" Tanjiro begged Haganezuka to come inside the house.

"Would you both like to come inside? We have tea." BoBoiBoy offered them again.

They exposed themselves to their faces and got up close to them.

"A clown mask?" They said as they saw their masks. Haganezuka has a red goblin mask while Kazuhiro has a blue goblin one.

"Hey, you're a Child of Brightness, aren't you? Now that's what I call lucky." Haganezuka asked particularly to Tanjiro.

"Oh no, I'm the son of Tanjuro and Kie." Tanjiro answered honestly.

"And you, are you a Child of Balance?" Kazuhiro asked to BoBoiBoy.

"Uhmm no?" BoBoiBoy said with a confused face and tone. "I'm the son of Amato."

"That's not what we meant." They said.

"See how your hair and eyes are a reddish color? When a kid like you is born into a family that works with fire, it's considered lucky and a cause for celebration." Haganezuka pointed at Tanjiro and inserted his index finger into his cheekbone.

"Is that right? I had no idea." Tanjiro said with a muffled voice due to Haganezuka's finger against his cheek.

"What about me?" BoBoiBoy asked.

"Have a look at yourself." Kazuhiro started. "Your hair had a white streak and the rest of your hair is black. That's a sign of the balance between light and darkness is trying to compete against each other to see who will complete the color."

"Okay...? What does this have to do with me being a Child of Balance then?" He suddenly got curious and wants to know more.

"People with those kinds of hair color are really rare. You don't find someone with this type of hair with a white streak on it. But as for you, you're different from the others. That makes you the Child of Balance between light and darkness."

He learned something new now that he knows about this fact. But was weirded out because Kazuhiro described BoBoiBoy as 'different from the others'.

"There's a good chance that this sword will turn red! Right Urokodaki?" Haganezuka said.

"Yeah." Urokodaki replied.

"For you, this might be a good chance if your sword gets the black and white color! The two colors that will clash to see which one will fill the sword's colour!" Kazuhiro almost jumped from excitement from the thought of it.

Soon after, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy had their swords in hand.

"Come on, hurry up and draw it!" Haganezuka gestured for Tanjiro to draw out the sword by doing some weird hand movements.

"**Nichirin Swords **are also known as 'Color Changing Swords'." Kazuhiro explained. "They change color depending on the bearer.

Hearing this, they unsheathed their swords and brought their blades up. The color slowly fills in the colourless swords. Tanjiro's sword was black in colour and BoBoiBoy's sword was a complete white in colour.

"Black!"

"White!?"

"It's black and the other is a complete white, huh?"

"Is it bad or something if it turns black?" Tanjiro nervously said. "Is it unlucky?"

"Hey what about me? What about my sword? Is white a good or bad colour or what?" BoBoiBoy gaze at his sword.

"For both of your questions, no, not necessarily. But you don't see this pitch black and bright white too often."

Haganezuka and Kazuhiro both twitched until they exploded in anger.

"And I was so hoping I'd get to see a bright red sword! Dammit!" Haganezuka exclaimed as smoke puffed out his mask.

"Why did the sword turned completely bright white!? And here I thought there was gonna be a black colour on the bottom or top but I didn't expect to see this colour! Dammit!" Kazuhiro also exclaimed and smoke escaped his mask.

They both pounced on the boys and locked them in like they're wrestling them.

"Ouch! Stop! Please calm down! How old do you think you are?!" Tanjiro said while being strangled by Haganezuka.

"I'm thirty-seven." He said as he tighten his grip on Tanjiro.

"Mr. Hisashi! It hurts! Please stop it!" BoBoiBoy cried out.

"No can do! I wanted to see the black and white sword but you didn't let it happen!" Kazuhiro tightened his strangulation.

"It's not my fault!"

With all of this happening, Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow and BoBoiBoy's sparrow flew down and went inside the house.

"Tanjiro Kamado, BoBoiBoy! Here are your orders!" The Kasugai Crow spoke.

"It talks?" Tanjiro raised an eyebrow while repelling off Haganezuka's arm.

The sparrow flew on BoBoiBoy's shoulder and spoke to him using its bird language.

"Did you say 'Make your way to a town to the northwest'?" BoBoiBoy somehow was able to translate its language into English because of his hearing senses.

"Young girls have been vanishing there!" The Kasugai Crow said what it knows.

"Night after night, young girls have been vanishing! Hunt down the demon lurking there and kill it!" The Kasugai Crow said.

The sparrow still talked in its bird language and BoBoiBoy was able to understand what it's saying.

"Tanjiro Kamado, BoBoiBoy, prepare yourself well for this task! This is your first assignment as Demon Hunters!"

"Our first... assignment..." They both gave a tight grip on their swords at the mention of their assignment. This is finally their chance to prove their skills as official Demon Slayers. The task may sound hard for their first mission but with their wits and strength, they'll be able to help people. BoBoiBoy gave one long look at his **Nichirin ****Blade **and looked at Tanjiro with a determined face.

"Let's do this." He smirked.

* * *

**Chapter 6 is done, finally. This took WAY longer than I thought it would but it's done now.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed reading this and I'll see you all in the next one.**

**See y'all later :).**


	7. Swordsmen Accompanying A Demon

The next day came and it was the start of their first mission as official Demon Slayers. Their uniforms arrived and the measurements are as exact as they wanted it to be. They both got dressed into those uniforms, with the kanji word on the back of the uniform that says Destroy on it. They even put on their signature haoris.

"Have you both gotten changed?" Urokodaki asked as he watched them changed.

"Yes./Yeah." They said with a straight face. They shifted themselves just so that they are right in front of Urokodaki. Tanjiro is dressed in the official black Demon Slayer uniform in a slightly dark red tint. As for BoBoiBoy, his uniform is in a slightly yellow tint version of the uniform itself.

As he took a bit of a moment to look at himself, he glanced at himself as this uniform is much more comfortable than the clothes he wore and his TAPOPS uniform. He much prefer such roomy clothing just so there is more leverage in his movements while in battle. Even so, it's not the best looking design out there but hey, he can't judge over the simple things, can he?

Urokodaki nodded as he looked over to their new attire. And also, Nezuko crawls under her bedsheet to see Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy in their new Demon Slayer uniforms. Her eyes gave a beam as she saw how cool they look.

BoBoiBoy heard her crawling from her room and he gave a side grin at her way.

_'Wow. I think I'm starting to like having this keen sense of hearing! The training really paid off big time!'_ He cheered internally. Having an enhanced sense was barely a surprising news to him because of his training with Tanjiro. He was fortunate to have this ability.

"Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy..." Urokodaki gestured for the two of them to sit down.

"Now that you're starting out with the Demon Slayer Corps, I'd like to explain a few things to you both." He waited for their response.

"Right." They said and paid close attention to the old man.

"The Demon Slayer Corps outfit you're both wearing right now; It's made of a special kind of fiber. The fabric is quite breathable, yet it repels moisture and won't burn easily. A low-level demon's talons or fangs couldn't even manage to tear that uniform." Urokodaki stated.

"It's that strong?" Tanjiro said as he slightly pulled his uniform to see how durable it was.

"I see. No wonder it's quite comfy on the inside and smooth on the outside." BoBoiBoy commented.

"Also," He wasn't done yet. "Those **Nichirin Swords**... The color varies from owner to owner, and each hue has unique properties. But since not many people end up with black or white blades, little is known about them. So little, in fact, that—"

Tanjiro interrupted him. "So little is known that... What, Mr. Urokodaki?"

"Since so little is known about them, black blades are said to be wielded by swordsmen who'll never go far." Urokodaki said.

BoBoiBoy raises his hand. "Wait a second. What about my blade? What does the white hue mean anyway?"

Since he asked that particular question about his blade's unusual color, Urokodaki went silent for a few moments before answering to him this.

"Sadly, I don't think that's an abnormal colour for a sword like yours. If anything, it may be on par with the black blade in terms of its uniqueness in rarity." Urokodaki answered honestly. BoBoiBoy nodded but didn't understand it completely.

"So... my sword is kinda not normal unlike Tanjiro's black blade?" BoBoiBoy pushed more questions directly to him. To what he said about the white sword's uniqueness intrigued BoBoiBoy to no extent. If he received something that is positive, he's pretty much a lucky person to have a white hue sword.

"You can say that. Although, I wouldn't call it abnormal because of the colour itself. It's not a divine sword if that's what you're thinking." Urokodaki stated. "White hue swords are a severely rare type of colour in swords. I heard it is a type of colour that changes into types of colour depending on the breathing techniques. However, this is just a rumour."

"I understand." He knew it wasn't much information about the white sword but it satisfied his curiosity about this mysterious sword. BoBoiBoy nodded as he got it.

"Well, I don't know how we'll do in the Demon Slayer Corps, but I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human no matter what." Tanjiro said as he glance at Nezuko still under her bedsheet while looking at them with her usual look.

"Well said Tanjiro. I'm sure you can do it and make your sister a human again." BoBoiBoy said happily and looked at Nezuko.

'She definitely does look like a dog from that angle.' He lightly giggled at her.

"Yes, you're right. I have faith that you're going to make that happen."

"Right."

"One more thing." Urokodaki lifted up the box that was beside him the whole time and brought it forward to them. "Take this."

BoBoiBoy slightly inspected the box. "What's this box for, Mr. Urokodaki?"

Urokodaki reply to them. "It's a box for you to carry your sister in during the day. Built out of an extremely light wood called Cloud Mist Pine. I coated it with rock lacquer to reinforce its exterior and to make it even more durable." He explained.

"Ohh okay." BoBoiBoy nodded and understood what the box was for.

"Thank you very much!" Tanjiro thanked Urokodaki and stood up and examined the box up close by touching it.

"It's so light! It's really light, Mr. Urokodaki!" Tanjiro beamed as he felt the weight from the box. "BoBoiBoy! Try and carry it!"

BoBoiBoy did just as that and takes the box from Tanjiro. He was surprised to see that the box is very lightweight and much tougher than any box he's seen.

"You're right Tanjiro! Mr. Urokodaki, this is a really cool box!" BoBoiBoy commented with glee on his face. Little do they know that Urokodaki was smiling underneath his mask. He was really proud for their progress. They went from ordinary people into full fledged Demon Slayer in just two years under his guidance. He's proud that they're his only disciples to have ever survived Final Selection. At first, he never wanted them to succeed in slicing the boulder. But as they kept proving to their worth to him that they will succeed, he changed his mind, opinion, and view on them and quickly warmed up to them.

Tanjiro takes the box off of his hands and proceeds to bring it to Nezuko's room, leaving BoBoiBoy and Urokodaki by themselves. The thoughts of Urokodaki interrogating BoBoiBoy weeks ago resurfaced his mind once again. Since they're now alone, he thinks it's time to tell Urokodaki of his origins. He had been on him since the last few days ago.

"BoBoiBoy." Urokodaki started. "Is there something on your mind?"

He whipped his head around and met his gaze underneath his mask. He gulped nervously.

"It's about what happened 4 weeks ago. You know... About the whole thing of me being from... another place." He almost hesitated in saying it. He should have kept it under wraps but Urokodaki was onto him.

"I see." Urokodaki paused. "Do you think it's time?"

BoBoiBoy breathed for a while and collected his whole thoughts. He has decided to tell Urokodaki his whole story. To what Urokodaki think so far, he understood that BoBoiBoy is from another world, dimension, or timeline. There was no indication when or how it happened to BoBoiBoy as there were no evidence that he was transported here in their world. His original powers were taken or possibly stripped from him because of the technological device known as a Power Watch, much to Urokodaki's confusion to what he meant by this so-called device. He also said he's from a modern era.

"I see." Urokodaki said as he processed all the things BoBoiBoy told him. "No wonder your scent is different compared to me and Tanjiro."

"So what are gonna do now that I told you about me?" BoBoiBoy broke a sweat. Now that it's out of the blue, he can't help but wonder what Urokodaki is going to say to him. But to his sweet relief, he told him that he won't mouth a word to anyone he knows, much to BoBoiBoy's relief.

"C'mon BoBoiBoy. Let's go." Tanjiro strapped the box which held Nezuko inside and waited for him outside. BoBoiBoy made sure to not leave behind his belongings and went to his side.

"All right. We'll be going now." Tanjiro said.

Urokodaki stepped forward. "Hold on. Do you mind?"

"Sure." BoBoiBoy obliged. Urokodaki went and fixed their uniforms; buttoning up their tops properly and removing some dusts on their haoris, checking the straps of the box, and patted their shoulders like a father would do for their sons.

Urokodaki nodded. That made both of them real happy. They waved him goodbye as it is probably their last time that they will be seeing Urokodaki.

"We won't let you down, Mr. Urokodaki." BoBoiBoy muttered.

* * *

It was a sunny day and two boys are seen walking down on the path beside the fields leading to the northwest to where their first mission as Demon Slayers will be taking place. These types of missions are familiar to BoBoiBoy. He had many experiences as a TAPOPS member when it is all about rescuing Power Spheras. But now, this is different. He is here to save and help people from man-eating demons.

"Nezuko, are you all right?" Tanjiro indirectly asked Nezuko inside the box. He received no response.

"I'm sure she's alright inside there, Tanjiro. We can't forget that she's a tough one." BoBoiBoy reminded him. "Also, Mr. Urokodaki told me this. He is guessing that Nezuko is recovering her strength by sleeping instead of just devouring and consuming human flesh."

Tanjiro nodded. "Is that so?"

"Yup."

"Well then Nezuko, you get lots of rest okay?"

BoBoiBoy laughed. "She did get lots of rest by sleeping for two years. Don't tell me she's still a little tired."

Tanjiro couldn't help but to grin at that comment. "No kidding. But this time, she's gonna be fine. You know that."

"Yeah."

The walk to their destination was silent. It is going to be a long road ahead. Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy takes in his surroundings as they walk. He spotted various crops on the sides and more plants being planted by the farmers on the distance. The countryside is fairly new to him. He was more of a city person. But hey, it's his viewpoint. No one's here to blame him for that. Not even Tanjiro.

Speaking of Tanjiro...

"Hey BoBoiBoy..." He started. "Can I ask you something?"

That enough got his full attention from his 'taking in the scenery' to Tanjiro's.

"Sure. What is it you wanna ask me about?"

Tanjiro looks skeptical. An expression that went unnoticed by BoBoiBoy.

"Was it true?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What's true?"

Tanjiro paused, however. BoBoiBoy suddenly got nervous as he realized something.

'Crap! Does he know?' Was the thought that came up in his head.

His suspicions were confirmed by a simple nod from Tanjiro himself. That got BoBoiBoy even more nervous than he was a while ago.

"I had a feeling you would be from a different place. But the thought of you being from another... place... another planet... or... another dimension is just so... mind-blowing. I eavesdropped on your conversation with Mr. Urokodaki." Tanjiro was hesitated but he as to let BoBoiBoy know of this.

"I'm sorry, Tanjiro."

"Huh? Why are you saying sorry about it?" Tanjiro asked.

"I kept this from you these past few years. It's because... I'm worried you would distance yourself from me or something. I don't know much about you or your family, but... I'm scared. Scared of being left alone..." BoBoiBoy gazed his eyes on the ground. His tone was sad.

"BoBoiBoy..." Tanjiro sympathized. BoBoiBoy still continued.

"If you had listened really closely to what I said to Mr. Urokodaki, well... I very much told everything related to what happened." BoBoiBoy said finally facing forward. He never wanted to reveal his past events to how he got here. Although, he already did told Urokodaki, he was backed into a corner one time. Now here he is, telling this to Tanjiro.

"BoBoiBoy, listen..." Tanjiro said with a serious tone. "You know it's alright to tell me about what happened to you. I know that you are worried that I might not be able to comprehend of the facts you've told to Mr. Urokodaki but it doesn't change my opinion about you. You're just a kid, like me. We had no one except ourselves to protect. And we stuck together these past few years. I accept your past... Just like how I accepted my family's death." He ended with a sad and solemn tone.

"So please, don't go saying that it is your fault that you are here because of some twisted fate. You are my friend. And I don't wanna see you beating yourself up over this." Tanjiro placed his hand on BoBoiBoy's shoulder.

"T-Tanjiro... I..." He vividly glanced at Tanjiro's warm smile adorned on his face. He's very lucky he had such a supporting friend who were always there for him in times where he is in a moral dilemma.

He leaves a few tears welling up in his eyelids and were dripping down his cheekbones. "I can't thank you enough Tanjiro."

"You're welcome." Tanjiro removed his hand on BoBoiBoy's shoulder. He decided to give him some space after he cheered him up. In times like this, a few words of wisdom can sometimes help a troubled soul. He was glad he successfully made him feel like he got the weight off of his chest and he's able to breathe normally now. BoBoiBoy's face shows slight happiness and relief.

* * *

They finally arrived to the town their Kasugai Crows (sparrow for BoBoiBoy) mentioned to them. It was a relatively huge town that's filled to the brim on daylight. They walked on the bridge which is the town's entrance way.

"This must be the town to the northwest." BoBoiBoy figured.

"Yeah, it's a huge town than I imagined."

"Let's go. I wanna explore this town a little bit." BoBoiBoy practically hopped around like a child.

"Now now. You know we can't yet. We have a mission to complete."

As they walked around the town for the signs of the demon, they spotted a guy in a blue kimono with a brown haori walking all groggily.

"That guy looked like he have stayed up all night looking for something. Or someone." BoBoiBoy muttered to Tanjiro. They chalked it up as nothing and went on their merry way. They later changed their minds when the townsfolk gossiped about young girls being abducted night after night.

"Mr. Kazumi!" Tanjiro called out to the person they passed by earlier.

"If you don't mind, we'd like to hear your story. Is that all right?" BoBoiBoy said on behalf of both of him and Tanjiro. Kazumi looked at them tiredly before leading them to a different location.

"This is where Satoko vanished. You may not believe me." Kazumi said with a depressed tone.

"I do believe you. I believe you, all right!" Tanjiro said with fierce determination. "I believe you!"

Tanjiro got down on the ground and sniffed the demon's scent using his nose.

_'He IS like a dog!'_ BoBoiBoy thought with awe and a little weirded out of Tanjiro's action.

"Hey kid, what's he doing?" Kazumi asked to BoBoiBoy confusedly.

"Hahaha. Don't mind my friend here. He's just doing his job to find the demon." BoBoiBoy scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "How's it going? Did you findany sorts of traces of the demon we're looking for?"

Tanjiro lifted his head. "The demon's scent is still faint but it's not anywhere near here. That's strange."

"Oh. Okay. Well, hope we'll find them soon." BoBoiBoy said with slight apprehension. Despite this, he's still not used to being killing demons in brutal ways possible. It's really nerve-racking. Before going deep in his thoughts, he saw Kazumi looking away and held his bruised cheek in pain.

"Mr. Kazumi, are you alright?" He asked with concern.

"I'm fine... I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He didn't say anything afterwards.

BoBoiBoy and Kazumi quickly followed after Tanjiro as he sniffed at the corner of the house for the demon's scent. He found the trace and went to the street where he detected another faint scent. The townsfolk all looked at him weird.

_'This is gonna make us look embarrassing with Tanjiro doing that.'_ BoBoiBoy tried to cover his face to avoid being more embarrassed as he is right now. It was around 5 in the noon and there are still no signs of the demon anywhere.

"Okay, Tanjiro, we're getting nowhere if this keeps up." BoBoiBoy grumbled as he's beginning to grow tired of this wild goose chase.

"I want you two to believe me. She really did vanish." Kazumi begged them to believe his story.

"We believe you. After all, that's why we're here." Tanjiro said firmly.

"Do you know exactly how it happened? How did she vanish in the first place?" BoBoiBoy questioned Kazumi.

"I told you. I don't really know how it happened. All I know is that we're talking and she was walking right beside me, and that's when she suddenly vanished without a trace. I didn't hear her scream or anything." Kazumi said as he looked like he is about to tear up after telling him them this.

"Don't worry. We'll find her. Have a little faith in us." BoBoiBoy tried to reassure Kazumi, to which he slightly calmed down.

Night time fell and they're still looking for the demon. People are mostly gone on homeinto their own houses to hide themselves from the demon.

"You two are gonna keep going?" Kazumi asked.

"Yes." They both said.

"Look how late it's gotten. I'm flattered that the two of you are so concerned of me, but shouldn't you both pick up again tomorrow and get some rest?" Kazumi tried to reason with them when both of them crouched down and inspected the ground.

"These things are active during the night. So, I can't afford to rest." Tanjiro said.

"Same here with me. We're not giving up that easily." BoBoiBoy said with confidence. He hadn't used his newfound hearing ability and didn't used it until now. He focused deeply on where the sounds of the demon may be.

_'I'll leave the scent thing to Tanjiro. For now, I'll concentrate on where the source of the sound the demon may be.'_ He mentally focused deeply. He heard a slight gritting of teeth and some waves being swerved around. He find it strange considering there is no water source around here except the river on the outside town. But what perked his ears up is that a splash of water was heard from the distance.

"There!" BoBoiBoy exclaimed before he and Tanjiro sprinted to the same direction where they detected the demon's trace.

"What's gotten into you both all of a sudden?" Kazumi got surprised before he saw them sprint off to somewhere, leaving him to follow them.

"I'm guessing you found the demon as well?" BoBoiBoy said while running.

"Yeah! The scent just got stronger! The demon's at large! You?" He replied and asked.

"I heard water splashing but it's not natural for water to be splashing at this hour! No doubt it came from a demon!"

They jumped high into the air and landed on the roofs. BoBoiBoy saw Kazumi running after them and nodded at him to get the message. They acrobatically landed on the ground swiftly to the one particular spot where they found the demon's trace.

"This spot right here. I definitely heard it." BoBoiBoy drew out his white hued sword and Tanjiro drew out his black sword as well. They took their stances.

_'Two different noises. A demon and a female human. She's screaming while the demon is probably covering her mouth.'_ He pointed his sword to somewhere where the noise originated.

_'But... they're not here. Although, the strongest source of the sound is right here!'_ He stabbed the sword on the ground and Tanjiro got the idea as well and stabbed it right through the ground.

As they stabbed the ground, water unexpectedly rose from the ground and a piece of cloth can be seen partially. BoBoiBoy widened his eyes before grabbing the cloth and pulled a long haired girl in a bright green kimono out of the puddle.

"You okay!?" Tanjiro yelled.

"I'm fine!" He said as he landed on the ground safely while carrying the unconscious girl, bridal style.

Not for long, a demon with long blue hair emerge out of the puddle with only his upper body shown.

"A morphed demon?" Tanjiro said with slight shock. He thought of what Urokodaki told them of having to fight those types of demon with Blood Demon Arts from now on.

_'I think that's the demon with the gritting noise.'_ BoBoiBoy thought as he looked at the demon with wonder.

"Where are those girls you kidnapped?" Tanjiro asked to the demon.

The demon replied with no words, but with gritting his teeth angrily and loudly. BoBoiBoy almost made him drop the girl, if it weren't for Tanjiro catching her and carried her, and got down on the ground while covering his ears.

"AAAAAGGHHHHH!!" He covered his ears with his hands. He may have good hearing but it's also sensitive to his eardrums. "MAKE IT STOP!!!"

The demon continued to grit his teeth before submerging himself back into the dark water.

"BoBoiBoy, it's okay. You can uncover your ears now."

"What!?" BoBoiBoy yelled while covering his ears. Tanjiro sweatdropped.

Kazumi finally caught up to them and saw the puddle where the demon popped out of.

"Who was that?" Kazumi asked.

"Mr. Kazumi, please hold this person and stand nearby. If you're inside of our range of attacks, we can protect you!"

BoBoiBoy slowly removed his ears and experienced a ringing in his ears. He grabbed his sword in between his hands and went behind Kazumi.

"Stick close to me Mr. Kazumi. And protect the girl too." BoBoiBoy stood his guard and gripped on his sword.

_'This demon really likes to hide, huh? But he didn't try to hide his sloppy movements.'_ BoBoiBoy focused his hearing again and heard a sound that will emerge in the front, the side, or in front of Kazumi.

"Here it comes!" BoBoiBoy raised his sword and ran to where he found the source.

"**Lightning Breathing! Fifth Form!**"

Tanjiro warned him. "Watch out!"

"Huh?" He didn't know what he meant until he spotted hands emerging out of the ground and were ready to grab him.

"There's three of them!?" He jumped out of the way and switched his forms. Tanjiro also prepared his technique.

"**Eighth Form!**"

"**Waterfall Basin!/Voltage Shock!**" Mixtures of water and lightning came raining down on the demons and enveloped them in an electrifying current.

* * *

_"Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, listen to me closely." Urokodaki beckons for them to listen._

_"The type of demon with the blood that can turn humans into demons..."_

_BoBoiBoy moved closer. "Who is it?"_

_Urokodaki continued. "There's only one in this world."_

_"Just one..." Tanjiro repeated._

_"the one who was the first to become the demon more than a thousand years ago. In other words, that is your family's foe. Moreover, I believe he's the one who might know how to turn your sister back into a human."_

_They frowned at what they are about to hear of this demon's name._

_"That demon's name is... **Muzan Kibutsuji!**"_

Back to their situation, the boys executed their breathing techniques against the demons that can somehow split into multiple versions of themselves. When the lightning died down, it didn't somehow kill them all. Only have some of their body parts flying out and their blood trickled down their wounds.

_'Too shallow! We missed all their vulnerable parts!'_ Tanjiro thought. 'BoBoiBoy's technique did some damage at least. But it's not enough to kill them!'

The three demons submerged once again for a tactical advantage. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy went back to Kazumi's side and formed a barrier around him.

"Keep your eyes peeled Tanjiro. They can be anywhere." BoBoiBoy reminded him.

"Got it. And protect these two while we're at it. We have to be very aware."

BoBoiBoy nodded and kept his eyes wandering on where their next attack position is going to be. As he detected the source of the sounds, he spotted two hands emerging from the ground. One arm is heading towards Tanjiro and another is heading towards him.

_'**Total Concentration... Lightning Breathing... Second Form... Electric Stab!**'_ BoBoiBoy slashed the oncoming arm that was about to grab the girl. Even though he landed the attack,it missed and it only grazed on his arm.

_'Dammit! I missed!'_ BoBoiBoy cursed as he backed away from the retreating demon. Tanjiro tried to slash the demon, only for him to disperse in the water and gained distance from Tanjiro and the others.

"Stop. We can't chase him at this rate." BoBoiBoy halted him. "I'll guard Mr. Kazumi and the girl. I got your back in case something goes down."

Tanjiro firmly nodded. He held his sword's grip and glared at the demon.

"You bastards!" The demon exclaimed in anger. "Back off for crying out loud! That girl's gonna go stale on me, dammit! That girl's already 16, okay? If I don't devour her soon, she's gonna lose flavor by the second!"

BoBoiBoy grits his teeth. "Why you-"

The other demon showed up in front of BoBoiBoy while behind Kazumi.

"Calm down, my other self. Hey, so what? There are gonna be nights like this. I've already fed on plenty of 16-year-old girls in this town. They were all quite meaty and delicious. I'm satisfied."

"How dare you!" BoBoiBoy rushed forward and delivered a slash to the demon. But as soon as he got there, the demon disappeared underground—or underwater and reappeared beside him.

"Well, I'm not satisfied, my other self! I wanna consume more!" The demon nagged and demanded more.

"You monster..." Kazumi spoke up. Return Satoko to me. The one you abducted the night before last!"

"Where are the re-AAUGGHHH!" BoBoiBoy covered his ears once again when he heard the gritty noise again from the other demons.

"Satoko? Who are you talking about?" The demon opened his jacket partially and revealed all the accessories their victims had as his collection. "If her hairpin is among these collectibles, then I've devoured her."

Kazumi couldn't take it and cried. His precious Satoko was already killed and devoured by this demon. Meanwhile, Tanjiro, after hearing what the demon had done to the poor girls, has his face filled with anger as he imagined all the pain and the screaming of agony of the poor victims. His family was also included and Nezuko when blood fully filled his thoughts. Veins popped out of Tanjiro.

"He'll... He'll pay for this..." BoBoiBoy muttered angrily after he heard about what the demon had done. His eyes flashed yellow momentarily.

The demon reappeared fast and went to attack Tanjiro, to which he blocked the attack and slashed the arm. He missed his head and got up close to the wall before the other demon tried to attack Tanjiro. It was not successful as BoBoiBoy intercepted and helped Tanjiro moved out of the way and later slash the demon's arm. Although, he did slash the arm, the demon isn't done there. The demon brought his sharp claw up and was about to stab Tanjiro's eye. However, Tanjiro's box opened to reveal a kick that spun the demon's head multiple times before rolling on the ground.

"Nezuko!" BoBoiBoy smiled as he saw the action.

"Why would these mere humans be accompanying a demon?" The demon spoke with a surprise tone.

_'What's the meaning of this? Who are those three? Are they swordsmen and a demon working together?'_

Nezuko crawled out of the box and went behind the two boys.

"Now we even the odds." BoBoiBoy said as Nezuko side nod to him.

_'I don't get it at all.'_ The demon retreated again. The other demon with his head spun around twisted its way back to its original place and a dark water puddle appeared beneath him.

"Hey! Come back here!" He didn't get too close as he was too late to deliver a slice to the neck when he had the chance. He cursed under his breath.

Moments later, Nezuko calmed down and went up to Kazumi and the unconscious girl in his hands. She put her hands on Kazumi's cheek and on the girl's head as she saw her siblings, Takeo and Hanako, in her vision.

The boys watched Nezuko as she didn't do anything to them and instead, she comforted them in her own way. It was truly a touching scene for BoBoiBoy. Despite her being a demon, she still retained her humanity within.

"Nezuko..." Tanjiro whispered, watching his sister do her thing.

"I hate to interrupt but it looks like they're back." BoBoiBoy said as he spotted black puddles on the ground and the demons appeared once again.

_"This may only be cold comfort, but while Nezuko was asleep, I used a hypnotic suggestion on her." Urokodaki informed them._

_"Suggestion?" Tanjiro repeated._

_"You hypnotized Nezuko?" BoBoiBoy asked. Urokodaki nodded._

_"**"All humans are your family. Protect humans. The demons are the enemy!"**"_

Nezuko approached them then veins appeared on the sides of her head and ran to where they are.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro called out to her.

"Come on! We gotta help her!" BoBoiBoy readied his sword and sprinted to Nezuko.

_""**Never forgive any demon who brings harm onto humans!""**_

It ends with Nezuko jumping and about to execute an axe kick on them.

* * *

**I'm sorry for the wait but here it is! I was about to continue it last week but I lost my time because of school. Yeah, blame my school for this.**

**If y'all liked it, please let me know what you think of this and I'll see you all in the next one.**

**Catch y'all later~**


	8. Muzan Kibutsuji

Even at nightfall, people find themselves unable to sleep with all the commotion outside of their home's vicinity. Initially, they plan to storm outside of their own homes to tone down the noise. Yet, they heard some noises which sounded like a demon would sound like. As much as they don't want to get involved in something that would probably get themselves killed, they retreated in their homes and locked every entrances in hope of not getting the demons inside of their houses.

A swift axe kick by Nezuko slammed down on the ground hard and caused a small fissure to form. The demon that was once on the ground was gone before she even landed that kick. The other demon chuckled before descending into the ground. nezuko tried to go after him.

"Nezuko! Don't chase after him! Get back here! Come to me." Tanjiro yelled after her and she complied. She begins to return for them when a dark puddle reappeared in front of her.

"Watch out!" BoBoiBoy dashed to her and sliced off the demon's arm that was about to grab her legs after Nezuko front flipped into the air. With sequential slices from BoBoiBoy to the demon, the demon forced to step back and regenerated his lost limbs back.

They taken this as a distraction for them to return to Tanjiro and Kazumi. "Are you two alright?"

BoBoiBoy wiped the blood off of his head. "We're okay. Nezuko seems fine on her own."

Tanjiro was relieved to hear that. "Listen, you two need to protect Mr. Kazumi and the young woman. I'll take them on by myself."

"Are you nuts!?" BoBoiBoy argued. "You can't do this all on your own!"

"I know but—"

BoBoiBoy cut him off. "Remember what Mr. Urokodaki said; Nezuko is a demon now and that she's not necessarily so weak that you have to protect her. If she can take on a demon by herself, then so do we."

Tanjiro processed this to what he told him. It made sense that Nezuko can now hold her ground against the demons. She proved it to them by protecting them from their first encounter with the two demons these last few years. But still, he doubt Nezuko can handle herself against a demon that can go underwater. Thankfully BoBoiBoy is around to defend her from this.

He took his word from him.

"Alright. Watch my back and we'll get them."

He received an affirm nod from them both. "You got it."

Tanjiro stepped forward, only for him to nearly step on the puddle of black water. He jumped back from nearly entering this puddle. Unbeknownst to them, another black puddle swerved its way around and tried to attack Nezuko. Nezuko dodged the attack from the demon that came out from the black puddle. Following up by this, BoBoiBoy delivered his blade straight to the demon's chest and the demon spat out blood.

"Guys!" Tanjiro called them out worriedly. Before he can go to them, his eyes caught on the black puddle below him.

"Hey guys, I'm going underground!" That statement almost caused BoBoiBoy to shout at him.

"That's suicidal! You're taking a risk on yourself!"

"I know." Tanjiro reasoned him with this. "But I need to do this. If not, then there will be no end to this."

BoBoiBoy stumbled on his next words before he reluctantly agreed with it.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Tanjiro. But before that, you need more back-up."

BoBoiBoy closes his eyes and channeled his breathing until it became clear and stable. After 15 days of them residing in Urokodaki's home, BoBoiBoy has been practicing non-stop to bring out his other elemental styled breathing techniques. How happy he was that he can finally split after two years. Even Tanjiro and Urokodaki were very surprised when they found out that he can split into multiple copies of himself.

"**Elemental Breathing. First Form.**"

As he drew in air, a magic circle appeared on top of them. BoBoiBoy jumped towards and out appeared his split selves.

"**Triple Split!**"

Both Kazumi and the demon were stunned by this sudden change. What they see is that BoBoiBoy had split into three made them dropped their jaws.

"I'll go with you Tanjiro." Earth volunteered. "The rest of you, Wind and Lightning, help Nezuko if she needs it."

Both of them nodded and circled around Kazumi and Nezuko as a form of protective barrier. They held their heads high and glared at the demon, who was watching them from the side with a surprised expression.

'First there was one and now three of them? This guy hides such an ability that can be dangerous for us.' the demon thought as sweat dropped from the sides of his head.

"Do you think you can do this?" Tanjiro asked, still unsure. Earth nodded and didn't say anything afterwards. With that said, they stepped at the black puddle and slowly submerged themselves underwater.

"Let's hope they can breathe that long underwater." Wind said with a nervous expression.

"Now it's just you against the three of us, demon." Lightning said with disdain.

* * *

The two made it underwater. Inside is so unsaturated, the water filled with dirt, seaweed, and any remnants of trash littered almost everywhere. For anyone that might be seeing under there, it looked like a swamp, or most likely the exact copy in fact. It was nothing like they ever see under the ground. This isn't what Earth had thought when he dove down the black puddle. He didn't dared to open his mouth not one single bit. But the dirty water still entered his nostrils, his ears, and soaked his clothes that will give stains later when he dried it off.

_'So this is the swamp...'_ Earth surveyed around to see that it is a swamp. He glanced down to find scattered and ripped clothing. 'These are the kidnapped people's stuff, right?'

Earth grabbed one of the ripped remains of the clothing of the kidnapped victims and examined them with an angry expression.

_'These innocent people... were massacred by these demons! They will pay for this!'_

He paused his thoughts as he spotted two demons hovering or floating above them. "Getting hard to breathe, brats?"

_'It's them!'_ Earth mentally shouted.

"There's hardly any air inside this swamp. On top of that, the darkness coiling around your bodies must feel pretty heavy." The demon said and laughed. The other one gritted his teeth continuously as he kept staring at them.

"You can't move the way you would aboveground! Serves you both right! You should've looked before you leaped in, you damn fools!

BoBoiBoy hurriedly beckons Tanjiro to stay on his guard and be ready for any attacks that may come. He got the message and kept his eyes on them moving around both of them.

_'Stay calm... stay calm...'_ Earth gripped the handle of his sword. Tanjiro also did the same and was about to attack the demons. But as they got closer in their range, they dispersed in different directions away from them.

_'These guys can still move around in different angles?'_ Earth looked on with slightly surprised eyes. _'But still, it won't matter when they get close to us, Tanjiro looked like he's about to unleash his Water breathing Technique. As for me, I have another thing in mind.'_

_'If Tanjiro misses this, he'll leave himself open for them to kill him!'_

He watched as Tanjiro prepared himself and the demons zoomed on him for the time to strike. Tanjiro unleashed his technique that created a violent whirlpool. However, one demon survived and shot a claw at his face, making Tanjiro's cheek bleed severely.

_'Dammit! I missed one!'_ Tanjiro almost gasped open his mouth and before the water could enter his mouth.

"Just die already!" The other demon that survived shot at them with blinding speed. Tanjiro didn't register the move and was moved a distance away.

_'I hear it! The sound of the opening thread!'_ Earth snapped his eyes and unleashed his technique.

**_'Total Concentration! Earth Breathing! Sixth Form!'_**

The water began to tremble as Earth begins to spin around and the blade of his turned brown in color. Due to Earth rapidly spinning in the water, it caused the water to vibrate intensely.

**_'Stone Tremor!'_** Using the intense vibrations in the water, this caused the demon to disorientate and lost track of the boys. Earth spun around and finally sliced off the demon's neck with quick precision.

_'I did it...!'_ Even himself is surprised that he done it. He looked to see Tanjiro staring at Earth with wide eyes as to what he did to the demon. Earth was about to go to him when he spotted a black cloth covered with something. He grabbed it and opened the fold to see the collection of the demon's previous victims even Satoko's.

_'Rest in peace.'_ He prayed for their unfortunate souls.

He pocketed it inside his haori and proceeded to go to Tanjiro. In the midst of getting to him, he stopped and needs to gasp for air for how long he was in the water. Tanjiro saw this and caught Earth in time and both of them tried to swim back up towards the surface.

* * *

Meanwhile at the surface above, Kazumi watched as Nezuko and Lightning have at it with the other demon on a two on one. Wind decided to act as the guard for Kazumi in case the demon finds his way around them.

Lightning blocked the blows and the razor sharp claws from the demon. He kept slashing at the demon's arms off. In hindsight, slashing them off would be useless as they kept regrowing back. But Lightning wasn't about to give up there.

"Take this!" Lightning had managed to sweep the demon's legs off of the ground. While the demon is down, Lightning wasted no time and attacked him.

"**Total Concentration! Lightning Breathing! First Form! Volt Barrage!**"

Lightning's sword turned yellow and was enveloped in electricity. He stabbed the demon on the chest repeatedly with his electrified sword. Each stab makes the demon let out a piercing shriek. Blood spewed out of the demon's mouth and blood can be seen erupting out of his chest.

"Isn't that a bit overkill...?" Wind had his mouth agape and horrified eyes at Lightning's brutal action to the demon.

Nezuko spectated at the whole scene. Despite her neutral demeanor, her eyes expresses concern for the other BoBoiBoy. The demon had enough of this and kicked Lightning away from him.

_'Those jolted my entire system! That bastard! I'll get you for this!'_ The demon cursed and tried to go back in the swamp. Nezuko wouldn't let him have that and kicked him away from the puddle.

_'She moves so fast! I can't dive back into the swamp!'_ The morphed demon regained his balance and blocked every one of her strikes. _'But hey, I'm getting used to those one-note attacks of hers!'_

He blocked a kick aimed at his head. _'Even if she kicks my head clean off... even if my internal organs explode, demons can regenerate in a flash!'_

Nezuko tried to punch the living lights out of the demon. It was proved futile when the morphed demon blocked her punch with his left wrist.

"Oh no you don't!" Lightning set out to try to help Nezuko. That's a risk he took as the demon clawed his left eye and Nezuko's forehead, making them bleed.

"Lightning! Nezuko!" Wind looked back towards Kazumi, still terrified of what is happening, then back at the morphed demon. He was really reluctant to approach to them as he didn't want to leave Kazumi unprotected. But he had to! Lightning and Nezuko are in trouble.

He inhaled huge sharp oxygen inside his mouth.

"**Total Concentration!Wind Breathing! First Form!**"

As the razor sharp claw like hand begins to close on them again, Wind managed to get to them before it happened.

"**Violent Zephyr!**" A gust of wind enveloped Wind's sword, turning it sky blue in color, and slashed the morphed demon's arms off like it was a piece of paper. The technique created blades of wind to pick up and boomerang-ed back to the demon several times in the torso and the lower body, creating more blood to let out from the demon.

"Hands off Lightning and Nezuko!" Wind glared at the demon unusually. Before the demon can counterattack using his other arm, Tanjiro and Earth both emerged out of the water and sliced off the other arm just in time. He fell back on the ground, both of his arms cut off.

_'Did I just get taken out? Both of my other selves got taken out by these guys!'_

"You guys are okay!" Wind was happy to see them safe and sound. "You guys had me worried to death!"

Earth patted him on the head. "We're fine. Don't worry."

"What about me?" Lightning sneered at them. Wind hurriedly rush over to Lightning and hugged him tightly.

"Get... off... me...!"

"Holy- Nezuko, are you alright!?" Earth examined Nezuko's forehead and it is indeed bleeding. Nezuko just looked at him with those pink eyes of hers. They were shaking.

"You give off a scent like rotten oil." Tanjiro remarked harshly at the demon with an angered face. "It's a horrible smell! How many people have you killed?"

"Listen! If women live any longer, they turn ugly and start tasting like crap! So, we killed them for their own good! You should be thankful for us demons-"

Tanjiro couldn't bear for him to talk anymore about the dead victims as he slashed off his mouth and blood begins to drip down his jaw. Wind got scared and recoiled back and hid behind Lightning.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lightning said as he is still holding his injured left eye.

"Never mind." Tanjiro slowly approached the demon, to which he back away against the wall and points the sword's tip in front of his face.

"You're going to tell me what you know about Muzan Kibutsuji."

What they didn't expect is that the morphed demon's face shifted from anger to a more frightful one. They noticed the sudden shift of expression.

_'By the sounds of him whimpering, it looks like he's afraid of something. What could that be that caused him to be terrified?'_ Earth thought.

"Talk to me!" He redirected the sword near his face. "Start talking!"

"I-I can't tell you." The demon said in a fearful tone.

_'By mentioning Muzan's name caused him to be scared? I guess demons are even more afraid to a demon stronger than them.'_ Earth thought again.

"I can't tell you!" He cried and wildly flailed around even with his arms cut off. "I can't tell you! I can't tell you! I can't tell you!"

"The sound of his fear is strong. He's trembling all the way down to his bones." Lightning said behind Earth.

"I can't tell you, all right?" The demon's arms regenerated instantly and he lunged at Tanjiro. He got out of the way just in time before Earth delivered a slice to the head that ended his life. The body is slowly disappearing in ashes and the head as well.

"Once again, I failed to get any information." In his desperation to get any information out of the demons, Tanjiro tried to pacify them in some way possible. Or if push comes to shove, threaten them. In any case, it always resulted in getting killed by either Tanjiro or BoBoiBoy.

"We'll still keep trying. Don't give up just yet. It's not an easy task but that time will come soon." Lightning reassured the dark redhead and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks." Tanjiro said with a slight smile. "How's your left eye? Does it still hurt?"

Lightning let go of his hand and shrugged his shoulders. "It could be worse. The cut isn't that deep but it still hurts like hell. Funny, I'm feeling a sense of dé·jà vu."

Tanjiro lightly chuckled and checked behind Lightning. He found Nezuko slumped against the wall with Wind tending to her care.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro ran over to them and crouched down to meet her height.

"She's fine. I cleanse the wound off of her head and applied some bandages that Mr. Urokodaki gave me. She's sleeping in order to recover from her wounds." Wind explained. Tanjiro practically hugged him.

"Thanks BoBoiBoy..."

"Wind. BoBoiBoy Wind." Wind corrected him and followed up with a chuckle.

"Is that right?" Tanjiro beamed.

"BoBoiBoy Lightning here. And the other one is BoBoiBoy Earth." He pointed to Earth trying to console Kazumi. "Next time, please refer to us using our elemental names. Calling us **BoBoiBoy** would just confuse the hell out of us three."

"Sure thing, Lightning." Tanjiro said and placed down the box and put Nezuko inside the box. He strapped the box behind his back and went over to Earth and Kazumi.

"Mr. Kazumi? Are you all right?" Earth softly said to Kazumi, still shaken by what transpired earlier.

"I've lost my fiancee. How can I be all right?" Kazumi said as tears formed on his eyelids.

"I..." Tanjiro pushed Earth gently to the side and let him take over for him.

"Mr. Kazumi... No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living. No matter how devastating the blows may be."

Kazumi didn't take this personally and bursts out in front of them and gripped onto Tanjiro's haori. "What do you know about it!? A kid like you!?"

The three BoBoiBoy's were about to reason Kazumi when Tanjiro slowly brough his two hands and held onto Kazumi's wrist. A look of empathy is all it takes for Kazumi to let go of his hand.

"Mr. Kazumi..." Earth stepped in and presented him the cloth that he took from the demon while underwater. "We'll be on our way, but first, take this. I hope you find something of Miss Satoko's in there."

Kazumi shakily took the cloth and opened it. And when he opened it, he already broke down as the hairpin that was once belonged to Satoko was still there. Kazumi couldn't take it anymore and cried heavily.

Behind Earth, Wind sniffed as tears begin to drip down his eyes. Lightning crossed his arms and smirked at Earth. Tanjiro stood up and bowed slightly to Kazumi.

"Let's go guys." He said quietly. Lightning was the first to walk beside Tanjiro and the rest followed. Kazumi gasped as realization dawned on him as Tanjiro already experienced this before.

Not for long, they heard him apologizing to Tanjiro. "I... I'm sorry! That was an awful thing for me to say! Please forgive me! I'm so sorry!"

Having heard of him apologized, they turned around and waved their hands as farewell. And that's when Kazumi noticed their hardened, rough hands. He thought went through hell together and that's why it ended up becoming like that. They weren't a boy's hand, that much as he know it it true.

"I'm leaving that young woman in your hands!" Tanjiro yelled and he and the three BoBoiBoys went off their ways.

"All right! All right!" Kazumi cried.

Once they turned to the corner, Earth beckons for them to be merged back into one again. And so they did.

"Auughh..." BoBoiBoy winced in pain like he never felt before.

"Are you okay?" Tanjiro caught him just in time before he falls down to the ground.

"I'm fine... Just... tired..." BoBoiBoy's eyes grew heavy and he find it very hard to keep them open.

* * *

Day time has risen. A crow and a sparrow are seen and heard croaking in the sky, soaring for its next destination. Not knowing that the next destination is in fact a person their seeking.

Tanjiro carried BoBoiBoy on his back while placing the box in front of his upper body using the box's straps.

"Hehe... Sorry for having you carry me like this..." BoBoiBoy said in a tired tone. He's obviously fatigued after having to use **Triple Split** for just one night.

Tanjiro waved him off. "Nah, it's fine. I already told you that I'm adept at carrying heavy stuff my whole life."

"Oh yeah... Wait... Should I be offended at that?"

"Huh? Offended?" Tanjiro raised an eyebrow.

"You called me heavy..." BoBoiBoy deadpanned.

"Oh crap! Did I really say that? Uhmm uhh... I'm sorry!" Tanjiro comedically stumbled.

"It's alright. Somebody told me something like that a long time ago..."

Afterwards, they both kept silent with BoBoiBoy letting himself rest on Tanjiro. Meanwhile, it brings him deep in his thoughts on the demon Tanjiro is trying to locate.

_'It's not just me. How many people have you killed, tortured and tormented? Muzan Kibutsuji, I'll never forgive you as long as I live!'_

He paused and balled his fists. The demon that he was fighting with. He could smell the intense fear inside of him. Even he knew Muzan Kibutsuji, the demon still wouldn't tell him for some reason.

The crow that was on the sky previously landed on top of Tanjiro's head. Since there is no place for the crow to land on due to BoBoiBoy occupying Tanjiro's back, it instead landed on his head. The sparrow also landed on BoBoiBoy's head, making him stir awake.

"Next up, Asakusa, Tokyo! Rumors of a demon lurking there!" the Kasugai Crow informed to Tanjiro. The sparrow, BoBoiBoy named it as Suzume, just tweeted near BoBoiBoy's ear for his next objectives, which we were surprisingly the same as Tanjiro's.

"Okay Suzume. But can I just take a break for a while...?"

Suzume lightly pecked his cheek as a way of saying 'no'.

"I'm heading to my next mission already?" Tanjiro was astonished to know he has another mission after their first one.

"Oh yes, you are!"

"Hold on a minute."

"No can do!"

"Come on, just give me a minute! Hold on!"

"Just shut up and go already!"

"Stop squirming so much Tanjiro! I'm gonna fall!"

"Crap, sorry!"

* * *

As soon as they arrived to their destination it was already night time. Asakusa, Tokyo. A place wherein lights and some modern technology are displayed.

BoBoiBoy is entirely baffled. It had been a long time since he last seen moving vehicles, cinemas, light posts, Japanese signs, and bright lights. It's a welcoming change of scenery compared to being in a countryside for two whole years. He smiled eagerly and had his eyes glued to everything.

_'It's been so long since I've seen all this. It feels like forever.'_

Tanjiro is a whole different story. He had his eyes bulged out of his eye sockets. He wasn't really used to being in the city. In fact, he is fairly new here. Living in the mountains and in the country is what suits his style.

BoBoiBoy takes the leisure and lead Tanjiro, while being close to Nezuko, in the parts of Tokyo. Tanjiro felt relieved knowing BoBoiBoy is familiar with this kinds of infrastructures. As they walk through the crowded streets of Tokyo, BoBoiBoy stopped by some shops that caught his interests. The purchases only goes to him only and neither does Tanjiro want it and Nezuko since she doesn't take notice of what's happening around her with her eyes closed.

After BoBoiBoy's little shopping spree, they ventured outside of the street and happened to stumble upon a noodle shop with a man puffing a cigar. The area around is empty and that is enough for Tanjiro to relax.

"Excuse us, two bowls of udon with grated yam on top please." Tanjiro ordered with a tired tone.

The three sat down on a bench waiting for the boys' orders. BoBoiBoy happily went through to his purchased and showed them off to Tanjiro, to which he kindly waved them off politely.

"Look. This looks awesome, right? This is probably my most favorite one yet!" BoBoiBoy almost exclaimed as held up an ornament, a bobblehead figure, right near his face.

"Uhh.. yeah. It looks cool." Tanjiro replied still with the same tone of voice. BoBoiBoy changed his expression from excitement to concern and worry.

"Are you okay, Tanjiro? You look a little dizzy."

He replied without looking. "I've never been to a place like this. It's way too crowded."

"Is that so? Cities are usually crowded even at night. Needless to say, it can be quite confusing if you don't know where you would go." BoBoiBoy said.

"Good thing you knew where to go. We would've walked in circles if it weren't for you." He was thankful that someone like BoBoiBoy knows his way around in the city.

"I am a city boy after all." He ended with a smile. Nezuko drowsily laid her sleeping head against Tanjiro's shoulder, earning a smile courtesy to her.

"Here are two bowls of udon with grated yam on top." The shopkeeper said as he held two plates on his hands. BoBoiBoy took the bowls and paid for them and went back to sit down with Tanjiro.

"Alright. Thank you for the food." He clapped his hands and dug in his udon using his chopsticks. The taste was very exquisite and the ingredients were very fresh. It was a really great udon. He finished it in one go.

"How was it?" Tanjiro asked.

"It's really good! The best udon I had!" BoBoiBoy expressed his opinion clearly. The shopkeeper heard it and grinned. Tanjiro was about to eat his own udon when he went alert all of a sudden, dropping his udon on the ground.

"What the—? Tanjiro!?" BoBoiBoy sprang up from his seat and asked the dark redhead. He looked at both ways while breathing slowly and heavily. He took his sword and ran from the way they came.

"Hey wait up!" BoBoiBoy was about to run after him, but he couldn't leave Nezuko behind. But in her condition, there is no way she keep up with him. He clicked his tongue and told Nezuko is stay put until he gets Tanjiro back.

"Where are you going Tanjiro?" He muttered as he resumed his sprint to catch up with the dark redhead. He followed Tanjiro closely from behind and narrowly avoiding the people that Tanjiro moved out of his way. Quite uncharacteristic coming from him but he knew it was urgent.

He slowed his running when he spotted Tanjiro putting his hand on the mysterious person's shoulder. The latter slowly turned his head around to be met with furious red eyes staring back at him.

_'Hold up... Is that...'_ BoBoiBoy cautiously stepped forward until he was beside Tanjiro. He reached for his sword, ready to decapitate this man.

_'He's giving off a strange aura. The slits on his eyes... The red color... don't tell me this is Muzan Kibutsuji!?'_ He also reached in for his sword. _'That explains why Tanjiro stormed off. He detected this guy's scent! And now he's here in the open!'_

"Daddy?"

A voice of a small child made them stop from unsheathing their swords. Muzan shifted his body around to see him holding a little girl in his arms.

"Who are they?" Her glittering brown orbs stared at them with curiosity. Tanjiro gasped with saucer-wide eyes.

"It's all right. Don't worry." Muzan cooed at the little girl.

BoBoiBoy lightly took a step back. _'He's... He's... He's... He's living here, pretending to be a human!'_

"Is there something I can do for you two? Both of you seem to be quite flustered." Muzan acted like nothing had happened and asked them.

"Oh my, What's going on?" The lady, presumably to be Muzan's '_wife_', saw the scene and asked her husband.

"Mother!" The little girl beamed as she sees her mother.

Meanwhile, Tanjiro is having trouble keeping his pace steady. The thought of Muzan pretending to live as a human is very bizarre. And those two people he has with him, they are human. They didn't know that they were beside a demon.

"I... I..." BoBoiBoy stuttered. His legs are trembling with immense fear. His grip on the blade's handle loosened. The man before him is the being that devours humans and demons alike. A terrifying encounter.

"Do you know them?" The woman asked as she looked at the two stunned boys.

"No. Much to my consternation." Muzan replied with a shadow of a doubt. "I've never seen these two boys before."

He released his other arm, letting it sway freely from his side. BoBoiBoy caught notice of the hand. His nails were sharp. BoBoiBoy gulped nervously.

"They must have mistaken me for someone else." Muzan scanned his eyes looking for something—or someone nearby. He raised his hand and scratched the man that passed by him in a blink of an eye.

_'Did he just...?'_ BoBoiBoy gaped his mouth as he saw what he did. The man felt the pain from the scratch as it causee blood to spew out from his nape.

"Dear, what's the matter?" His wife asked him what was wrong with him. He didn't looked up to her or answer her. His facial features slowly morphed into something more inhumane. The woman inched closer to him and it was a mistake to do so as the man suddenly lunged at her and bit her shoulder.

"Stop!" The boys yelled and reached out their arms trying to stop the man from biting her but it was too late. Muzan looked on them with a glare. His cover was already blown with two unknown people knowing who he is. He gazed onto Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy with a murderous stare.

_'This... This can't be happening!'_ He stood there, frozen stiff from the fear. He could've done something to prevent that from happening. But alas, if he were to do so, any civilians in his range and nearby will probably be killed by his attempts. He had no choice but to abstain, lest he wants to compromise what he wants to do but couldn't.

This is another time that he felt hopeless in this situation.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait. I didn't have time because of school. The usual thing always happens whenever I try to write a chapter. And what was the usual thing? You guess it.**

**H o m e w o r k R e s e a r c h**

**But I managed to do this in the midst of all the chaos school has in store for me. Let's hope next week will be lighter to the weight on my shoulders. I'm exhausted.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this one and see y'all later.**

**｡‿｡ sayonara~**


	9. The Smell of Enchanting Blood

The sound of a woman's scream echoes in the night and in the busied street of Asakusa, Tokyo. Everyone around the vicinity swarmed around the man who turned into a demon while biting down his fiancé's shoulder. They all asked around what is going on between them, completely oblivious to the fact that there is a demon among them.

The demon-turned man finished biting her shoulder and brought his head up to chomp her.

"Stop!" It's not going to happen soon when the boys dashed pass Muzan, who looked at them with a look of curiosity. BoBoiBoy pushed the demon-turned man off of the woman and Tanjiro pinned him down to the ground.

"Are you alright!?" BoBoiBoy tended to her very quick. She yelped in pain as he put his rough hand on her wound.

"Dear!" She screamed at him, confused and worried as to why he bit her.

'This doesn't look good. Her wound is too deep. But she's going to be alright. It's not a full chomp all the way to the neck area.' He thought as he carefully placed a clean cloth and pressed it onto her fresh wound. She winced in pain. He tied it up using a rope after he asked anyone for one.

"How's he doing, Tanjiro!?" BoBoiBoy called out his friend.

"I'm trying to hold him down! Worry about the woman first!" He said as he got back to his own priority on pinning the man down. The cloth which Tanjiro used is his blue hood and wrapped it up into a ball and put it in the man's gaping mouth whole.

"You're going to be alright ma'am. The wound isn't fatal so you should be okay." BoBoiBoy reassured the woman. She calmed down a bit but her wavering eyes didn't leave from her gaze to her husband.

As he continued to medicate with improvisation on the woman, Muzan begins to walk away with the child and his '_wife_'. Muzan's plan was to actually corner them by making that man he scratched earlier into a demon and using it as a distraction to lure their attention away from him.

BoBoiBoy should follow him. But was it safe to leave the woman and Tanjiro here with the demon-turned husband? Once again, he gritted his teeth for unable to make a choice in this conundrum.

"Muzan Kibutsuji! I'm not letting you get away! No matter where you go!" Enraged words were said by Tanjiro as he glared behind him to see Muzan walking away with his family in tow.

"What's the matter with that child? What do you think, Tsukihiko?" Rei said to Muzan, using _Tsukihiko_ as his alias, as she overheard what Tanjiro shouted at them.

"Don't be deceived! You're following someone who will endanger your daughter and your life!" BoBoiBoy also tried to intervene and yelled at Rei in particular. This caused her to tilt her head behind her and stared at him for a few seconds before turning away.

"What's wrong with them? They think you're a bad person, daddy." The daughter spoke and questioned her father, but didn't speak and continued walking down the street.

"No matter where you go, you're not getting away! I'll follow you to the ends of Hell and I swear I'll slice off your head with my blade! I'll never forgive you no matter what!" His grip had gotten tighter and the demon Tanjiro was holding started to squirm again.

"What the hell are you doing? Is it a drunk?" A bunch of police guards arrived on scene and demanded to know what is going on.

"Kid, step away from that man!" One guard said to Tanjiro.

"I can't! Bring some restraints please! BoBoiBoy, help me out here!"

Having heard of his name, BoBoiBoy gave a reassuring look to the woman.

"Stay right here, ma'am." BoBoiBoy stood from his position and went over to Tanjiro. He later stood in front as a defense barrier between Tanjiro and the guards.

"Shut up and step away!" The guard tried to yank Tanjiro off but BoBoiBoy stopped him from doing it by holding his arm.

"Keep your hands off of him! He's trying to prevent this man from hurting anyone!"

"Hey kid! Stay out of this!" He swatted his hand away.

"No can do! We can't let this person kill anyone!"

"What are you blabbering about, kid?"

BoBoiBoy wouldn't let them have their way and continued blocking their way. "Please, don't interfere! If you do, you'll get hurt! I'm begging you!"

"Are you stupid!? We are the police and we handle all the problems! Now move out of the way!" They all revealed their police batons and were about to bash on them for interfering their duties as a police officers.

"You left me no choice." Hands on the grip, he partially revealed one-eighth of the blade. He wasn't planning to attack them. That would violate the Demon Slayer Corps rules. He is going to threaten them in a way of getting out of their way. Electricity sparks on his blade and his eyes glowed a yellow light.

"Don't come any closer." He glared at them, using his infamous Thunderstorm-esque glare. They all backed off in fear with that glare alone.

"If you keep resisting us, then we'll—"

He didn't get to finish what he's saying when an aromatic smell of flowers of any variety wafted around them and disabled their field of vision.

"**Enchanting Blood, Aroma of Visual Fantasy.**" A feminine voice said as she chanted a spell by ripping her forearm to reveal blood flowing out and a mysterious scent to waft in the atmosphere.

_'What's this scent? It smells so fragrant.'_ BoBoiBoy said as the floral patterns blocked the guards' path.

"What are these patterns?" One guard asks as they were enveloped in those said patterns.

"What's going on? I can't see anything!"

Tanjiro, still pinning the demon-turned man o the ground, looked around himself and thought it was going to be some form of attack.

"What's going on, BoBoiBoy?" Tanjiro asked him if he knows what's going on.

"I have no idea. But this doesn't look harmful to me." He said as he put his hand on the patterns and they just went through like it was nothing. Not for long, his hearing picked up sounds of footsteps approaching not two feet but four. BoBoiBoy spotted a beautiful woman who wore a dark purple kimono that was decorated by wavy pale purple tree branches and red flowers and a young boy with pale skin and bright lavender purple eyes. His short hair is neatly styled and vertically shaded from a dull green to black.

"Who... is she?" He said softly.

"You still use... the term _person_ to refer even a transformed demon. And you're trying to save him. Allow me, then, to lend you a hand." Her voice held no malice and her tone was soothing. She brought her forearm up and the wound that was there began to heal in a matter of seconds."

"But why? You... Your scent tells me..." Tanjiro cautiously said.

"There's no denying. The sounds of what a demon should be is there, yet different." BoBoiBoy said astounded.

"That's right. I am a demon, but I am also a doctor, and I wish to annihilate that man, Kibutsuji." She defined who she was and her objectives to murder the man she loathed most, much like Tanjiro's hatred against him, **Muzan Kibutsuji**.

* * *

"Are't you coming, Daddy?" The young girl asked her father.

"Daddy has work. I have a business meeting to attend. I'm also concerned about that disturbance just now." Muzan replied and recalled about the what happened earlier.

"Dear..." Rei said.

"Don't worry." Muzan smiled at her. "I'm only going to speak with the police. Now, get in."

Rei and their daughter hopped on the vehicle meant for them. The little girl motioned herself near the window.

"Daddy, come home soon, okay?" She asked.

"All right. You be a good girl now. Take them back to the house. Go on." Muzan said to the driver and started up the engine. He watched them go off into their home. With them out of his sight, Muzan walked into a dark alleyway, secluded from the crowd and on his way to his 'meeting place'.

"Big Bro, let's hit one more bar!" A drunk man in the alleyway drunkenly swayed from side to side and said to his fellow pals.

"Yacchan, are you okay?" A lady said as she watched him go at it.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm not even drunk yet—" He stopped moving as he bumped into Muzan, who was walking to his side.

"What the hell, you bastard?" The drunk man asked in annoyance.

Muzan paused for a moment before he replied, His hat was overshadowing his facial features and his eyes.

"Forgive me."

He went along his merry way but the drunk person wouldn't let him have it.

"Hey, come back here!" He grabbed his shoulder that made him stop in Muzan's tracks.

"I'm very sorry, but I happen to be in a hurry, so..."

"What did you say?" He let go of his hand. "Hey, look at you, decked out in those posh-looking threads! You piss me off! You and your pale face... You look like you're about to fall over dead!"

Those mocking comments are all it takes to trigger Muzan as he widen his eyes and slits appeared on them. They were shaking in anger.

"Hey, say something, will you? Or did you just croak?"

Everything he said is a nail in the coffin and he built himself one when Muzan raised his fist up and one punched the living hell out of the drunk guy, making him slam against the wall beside him and knocked him dead.

"Yacchan!" The lady yelled out to him.

"What did you do to my kid brother!?" The bald big brother angrily asks as he didn't realize his brother is now dead.

"Yacchan! He's dead! Yacchan's not breathing!" She exclaimed as worry and panic washed over her.

The big brother heard it and was furious to know that he's dead. "You bastard!"

He was about to attack Muzan, only for him to be attacked instead with a swift kick. He was flying in the air and spewed out blood from his mouth and fell back down on the ground, killed.

She watched as the bald big brother was instantly killed by Muzan. She also noticed him approaching closer to her and crouched in front of her. Paralyzed in fear, she locked her frightened wide eyes into his crimson red demon eyes.

"Does my complexion look unhealthy to you?" He asked her and put his hand on her cheek. He asked her once more with more questions. "Is my face pale? Do I look sickly to you? Do I look like I'm not long for this world? Do I look like I'm about to die?"

He let go of his hand that was holding her cheek. "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm a living being who's infinitely close to perfection."

His next action is bringing his index finger up and the nail shapes into a purple sharp claw. He pressed it near her forehead and jammed its way in there, causing the woman to gasp in sudden pain.

"What do you think will happen if I keep flooding you with my blood?" He said as he keeps injecting her his own blood, which caused her head to darken in color, veins popping in many areas, and her body violently twitched.

"The human body is unable to withstand the speed of transformation." He removed his index finger from her forehead. "And its cells are destroyed."

The woman writhed in intense pain after so much of Muzan's blood was transferred in her. Her body begins to mold and rapidly loses its color. Her skin of unidentified mass bubbled up and she melted. Her last ditch effort was to reach her hand on Muzan before she completely devolved into ashes, leaving no trace of her except the puddle of internal organs inside of her kimono and smoke rises from it.

Muzan stood up, done with his act, and snapped his fingers to call in two demons that appeared out of nowhere.

"Bring me the heads of the Demon Slayers who wears hanafuda-like earrings and a boy with a white streak on his hair. Understood? Muzan ordered them from behind him.

"As you wish." The male demon obliged.

"Your wish is our command." The female demon added as they instantly disappeared in a blink of a eye.

Muzan stood, blankly staring at the wall in front of him, as he remembered the man that almost tried to kill him. He shivered at the mere memory and it served him as a reminder that the person he feared the most would always look for him somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Those earrings..." He remembers the look he gave him, the hanafuda earrings on his ears, and the crimson red sword, sharpened to kill Muzan.

* * *

"Now, listen to me! Here's the deal..."

Almost preventing a fiasco from happening, BoBoiBoy and Tanjiro both returned from the udon shop and was greeted by an agitated shopkeeper. Although he wasn't mad directly at BoBoiBoy, he was really angry at Tanjiro, for dropping his udon on the ground for no apparent reason.

Tanjiro nervously sweats as he was interrogated by the shopkeeper.

"My point is this, okay? It's not about the money! What I can't forgive is your lack of intent to eat my udon, all right?" He complained and shouted at Tanjiro.

"I'm so sorry! Please serve me another bowl!" Tanjiro apologized and asks for another one.

"So, you're gonna eat it?!" He asked.

"Yes!"

"You're definitely gonna eat it!?" He leaned forward for a more direct answer.

"Yes, I shall!" Tanjiro screamed.

"Okay!"

He affixed his look on BoBoiBoy. "And what about you? Would you like another one?" He asked him with a calmer tone.

BoBoiBoy didn't expect an offer. "Well uhm.. sure.. I'm still a bit hungry anyway."

"All right! It's the least I can do for having a customer who likes my udon!" His enthusiasm was back. BoBoiBoy gave him a blank look.

"You, too!" He even pointed his finger at Nezuko. "If you're gonna have udon, take off that bamboo thingie first! What is that thing anyway!?"

Nezuko is really confused. Her dot eyes expressed it as she really doesn't know what to reply.

"Take these chopsticks! Chopsticks!" He positioned them near her face and emphasizing them. Tanjiro slides over and grabbed his wrist.

"I'd like a bowl of udon! I'd like two bowls of udon!" Tanjiro demanded.

"R-Right." The vendor replied with a weird and surprised look.

Three bowls of udon were served, one for BoBoiBoy and two for Tanjiro. BoBoiBoy happily dig down his own while Tanjiro literally finishes his two bowls at a fast rate, which earned a shocked expression from the vendor.

"Thank you very much for the meal!" They clapped their hands in a praying manner. "That was delicious!"

"As long as you two get it, it's all good!" He responded with an excited manner. "Thanks for your business."

BoBoiBoy lightly burped at the meal he was served. It had been an awful while since he had a full stomach of food. The past few years were just unbearable for him. Foraging for food just became second nature for him for having to survive in the forest.

"Sorry about that, Nezuko, leaving you behind like that..." Tanjiro said as he felt bad for leaving Nezuko.

"Eh, I told her to stay put while I was going to get you." BoBoiBoy reminded him.

"Thanks, but still, it was wrong for me to— huh, Nezuko?" They both stopped in their tracks as Nezuko frowned and looked at the boy with dull green to black hair standing beside the tree. They skipped to where he is.

"It's you. You've been waiting for us, haven't you?" BoBoiBoy asked to the frowning boy.

"It's because I was told to bring you two to see her." He told them.

"I could've tracked you by scent." Tanjiro said.

"And I could've tracked you by sound." BoBoiBoy added.

"She's in a place that's under a cloaking spell. No way could you both find it." He said.

"Cloaking?" Tanjiro asked.

"That's like camouflage right? That way, no one will be able to track down you or her down." BoBoiBoy assumed. The boy nodded.

"Anyway..." He pointed his finger at Nezuko. "Isn't that woman a demon? And an eyesore to boot."

Both boys processed this comment.

_'Wait... an eyesore? Why would he call Nezuko an eyesore!? She's not an eyesore! If anything, this guy's look is like one to begin with!'_ BoBoiBoy thought with a comedic tick mark on his head. Before he move, Tanjiro brought his face up closer to the boy.

"WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD CALL HER AN EYESORE!? JUST TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT HER FEATURES! SHE WAS THE BEAUTY OF OUR HOMETOWN! OUR NEZUKO!" He shouts with plain white eyes and spread his arms to Nezuko as if he's introducing her to the boy. The latter remained unfazed by this.

"Let's go." He said as he started to walk with them following behind him. Tanjiro dragging Nezuko along with him with BoBoiBoy behind.

"Sure, we'll go, but still... No way is she an eyesore! Not on your life! Take a look at her where there's a bit more light! Come on, let's go over there!" Tanjiro yelled.

"Hey! Whatever your name is, just stop and take a good look of her! You just don't appreciate true beauty!" BoBoiBoy also yelled and siding along with Tanjiro.

***BEEP***

"Huh?" He immediately stopped. BoBoiBoy looked behind him to see nothing there. It could be his imagination but he could have sworn he heard a beeping sound somewhere.

_'What was that...? It couldn't have been...'_

However, he shook it away as a random thing and closely followed behind Tanjiro. But, something in the back of his mind told him a different story.

And it bothered him all the way.

* * *

They have reached somewhere out of town where nobody would see them. The boy surveyed his eyes if someone is following them or not. Fortunately, nobody is in plain except the people he brought along.

"Oh, I know what it is! It's this muzzle, right? It might be because of this muzzle!" Tanjiro cupped Nezuko's face.

"Still not over it, huh...?" He said with an irritated tone. He spent the whole time and way listening to Tanjiro's rants about Nezuko's featured look. At first he was on board but that was short-lived and he now he is stuck hearing about it.

"I'd like you to behold Nezuko without the muzzle!" He was ready to take it off when he saw the boy no where in his sights. "Huh!? Where did he go?"

BoBoiBoy let out an exasperated sigh. "If you would stop talking for a minute, I would tell you!"

The boy's face appeared on the wall. "Hurry it up. While no one's around."

"I'll go first." BoBoiBoy stepped up and pressed his hand on the wall. His hand slipped inside and he took another step forward and entered the wall to reveal a house. Tanjiro and Nezuko both entered simultaneously and was surprised to see the revelation.

"There's a house behind the dead end!" Tanjiro exclaimed. Instead of agreeing with it, BoBoiBoy facepalmed.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious for pointing it out."

"Get over here!" The boy beckons for them to come closer. "Listen. Make sure you don't offend that person in any way."

"Yeah. You got it." BoBoiBoy flashed him a thumbs up. However, the boy suddenly went closer to Tanjiro and glared at him.

"Personally, I couldn't care less what happens to you. But I brought you two here because she insisted!" He whispered.

"R-Right."

The boy entered inside the house and waited for them to come inside. Tanjiro was bothered that BoBoiBoy is giving him the annoyed look.

"W-What is it?" Tanjiro asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You deserved that." He said it.

"What?"

He sighed. "Nevermind. Let's just go inside."

* * *

The boy led them to a room where the lady in a flower kimono and wearing a white robe is treating the other woman who got her shoulder bitten by her husband. The boy knocked on the door three times.

"Come in." She says.

"I have returned." The boy said, revealing the people she'd asked him to bring.

"Welcome back."

They welcomed themselves in and BoBoiBoy looked around in the room. It smells of medicine and simply laid out with a bunch of simple decorations like pictures adorned on the walls and skeletal structured pictures on the wall.

_'This feels like an infirmary or a clinic.'_ BoBoiBoy thought with wonder.

"I'm sorry that we left you to take care of things just now." Tanjiro apologized. "How is the lady?"

"She'll be just fine, thanks to that boy over there. Even if it's primitive, he managed to help relieving the wound a bit." She smiled at BoBoiBoy and that caused him to blush.

"T-Thanks." He appreciated the praise, but this earns him a scowl from the boy with lavender eyes.

"Unfortunately, I have to keep her husband restrained from the basement." She says and looked at the woman with empathy.

"Isn't treating human wounds unbearable for you?"

He received his answer by a smack on the chest from the boy.

"You think demons treat humans while choking back their own drool at the smell of blood?" He snarls at Tanjiro.

"Sorry." Tanjiro looked down on the ground, regretting asking his question.

"Hey, leave him alone. Just because he asked something he doesn't know doesn't earn you the right to hit him like that." BoBoiBoy narrowed his eyes on the boy and while defending Tanjiro.

"Unless you want the same treatment as I did to him?" He taunted him. They both had a tense stare off. Neither if them back down from it and continued doing it.

"Stop it. Why would you resort to violence?" She stood from her seat while looking at the boys. The other looked down in shame. "I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Tamayo. That boy is Yushiro. I hope that you two will be his friend."

With that said, Yushiro had been making an angry look and gritted his teeth in frsutration.

_'Uhmm yeah. For what he did to Tanjiro, it's not gonna be that easy.'_ BoBoiBoy said as he gazed at Yushiro.

"It's not unbearable, you know." Tamayo said that caught their attention. "I believe it's much easier for me than for normal demons. Because I've tweaked my body considerably."

"Tweaked?" BoBoiBoy said with interest.

Tamayo nodded. "I've also removed Kibutsuji's curse.

"Curse?" Tanjiro wondered. Tamayo removed her white cloth and led them to large sliding doors.

"Come this way."

* * *

Inside is Tamayo's own room. It's really well-established in terms of design and the decorations. Candles on the table, a vase full of flowers like her kimono, and a painting with a mountain in the background.

"Hey, Nezuko, that's bad manners!" Tanjiro scolded his younger sister because she laid down on the floormat.

"Sit up straight, Nezuko! It's rude of you doing it in someone's house!" BoBoiBoy said in a scolding manner as well.

"That's quite all right. Please make yourselves at home." Tamayo isn't affected at this and reassured them that it's okay.

"Sorry."

BoBoiBoy sat down next to Tanjiro's right side. "Alright. We're set."

"Now then, allow me to continue. I adjusted our bodies so that we can live without devouring humans. A small amount of blood is all we need."

"Blood? You mean..."

"That's great. Because that means it is a great alternative than just eating humans. I wish all demons would be like that. Uh.. not that I want that anyway." BoBoiBoy flipped his two cents.

Tamayo continued. "You may find it distasteful, but what I do is buy blood under the guise of transfusions from those unable to make ends meet. Of course, no more than would impair them."

_'Okay. So they're doing this to hide their identities from plain sight and not to draw attention. They masked this really well. But they still need human blood. And if blood is all they need, then Nezuko...'_ BoBoiBoy stared at Nezuko, still laying down and staring at seemingly nothing but the ceiling above her, then at Yushiro.

He gulped at his next words. "What about... Yushiro? Can he get by with less blood?"

The mentioned boy had his eyes widen and was ready to tear him apart if it weren't for Tamayo taming him.

"Apparently yes, since I'm the one who turned him into a demon."

They gasped.

"You did that? But... Eh?" Tanjiro was astonished to know about this.

"But I thought only Muzan is the one that can turn humans into demons. Don't tell me there are more like him out there?" BoBoiBoy had beads of sweat dripping down his head.

"You're right. It's generally held that no one but Kibutsuji can reproduce demons. That's more or less accurate. And to answer your question, no. Only Kibutsuji is the first demon to turn humans into demons."

"After more than 200 years, I was only able to transform Yushiro into a demon after all."

Yushiro gazes his eyes on the floor after she told them of turning him into a demon 200 years ago.

"Two... Two hundred years..."

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy were beyond shocked to know that Tamayo and Yushiro lived for that long.

"You were only able to transform Yushiro after more than 200 years? Exactly how old are y—"

Before he can finish what he says, BoBoiBoy covered his mouth with his hand and slung his arm around him, almost in a choking manner.

"Never, and I mean never, ask a woman's age! Haven't you have any manners!?"

"R-Right!" Tanjiro gasped for air as BoBoiBoy let him go from his grasp. It had been the first time he ever gotten mad at Tanjiro for being insensitive. Yushiro looks like he's about to lunge at Tanjiro for that incomplete question when he saw BoBoiBoy doing it for him.

"Yushiro! The next time you try to hit the boys, I'll make you regret it!" Tamayo scolded her apprentice.

"Yes, ma'am!" Yushiro immediately sat back down. _'She's beautiful even when she's angry!'_

Tanjiro held on to his throat as he coughed up for air.

"There's one thing I'd like to clear up with you. I'm not trying to create more demons. I only perform the procedure on the terminal ill or those so gravely injured that they don't have long to live. And in those cases, I always ask them beforehand if they wish to live on even as demons."

After she finished talking, they scanned for anything unusual around her if she's hiding any sorts of lies or deception.

_'From the sounds of it, she's actually legit into telling us all of this despite us as Demon Slayers. I haven't heard any slip ups from her nor identify any misconceptions in any of her words. She's the person we can actually put our trust to.'_ BoBoiBoy thought.

"Miss Tamayo." Tanjiro balled his hands into fists. "Is there a way to return a transformed demon back to human form?"

Tamayo reconsidered his words. He sounded desperate as she thought he found someone, who is a demon, that can actually tell him a way to turn a living demon-turned human back into a full human. She paused for a moment before delivering her answer to him.

"There is a way to turn a demon... back into a human." Tamayo said.

Tanjiro gasped. He finally found the the person who will actually going to tell hin the right answer.

"Please tell me how—"

"Cool it down, Tanjiro!" BoBoiBoy stood up as Tanjiro stood up as well and forced him to sit back down again. "Let Miss Tamayo finish what she's gonna say and not throw yourself at her!"

Yushiro was almost about to throw Tanjiro to the floor if it weren't for BoBoiBoy interfering. He gritted his teeth. However, he felt an aura emanating from Tamayo herself as she figured out what he's going to do to Tanjiro.

"Yushiro..." Her voice was icy.

"Yes ma'am! I was definitely not thinking of throwing nor hitting him, Lady Tamayo!" He tried to come up an excuse.

"You musn't do either." She declared.

"Yes, ma'am!"

BoBoiBoy comedically sweatdropped and looked blankly at Yushiro. _'So much for trying to restrain yourself.'_

Tanjiro waited for the moment to ask again. "Please tell me how."

"For any kind of wound, there's always some kind of medicine or treatment. At this time, I'm unable to turn a demon back into a human but surely, that, too..." Tamayo said as she remembered about what happened earlier outside.

"There must be a way right? Is there some sort of antidote, a reverse spell, a potion or some kind?" BoBoiBoy threw in some suggestions.

"Possibly. We are dedicated to establishing such a method of treatment. Towards that end, I'd like to ask you both to something for me." Tamayo requested.

"Of course. What will it be?" BoBoiBoy obliged and ask.

"To produce such an elixir, it is necessary to study the blood of numerous demons. I have two favors to ask of you. One, permission to study your sister's blood. Two, to retrieve blood samples from demons as closely related to Kibutsuji as possible."

_'Closely related to Muzan? That part sounds impossible. But it won't hurt to try, right?'_ BoBoiBoy mentally said after hearing her last favor.

"Nezuko's current condition is extremely rare and unique. I understand that she was asleep for two straight years and I believe that her body underwent changes during that time."

_'How could she have known this? Did she knew about this certain fact first hand?'_

"Normally, any demon who went that long without consuming the flesh or blood of a human or beast would unquestionably go berserk."

Yushiro stares at Tamayo for an awful while. _'Lady Tamayo is beautiful today, too! I'm sure she'll be beautiful again tomorrow!'_

"Nezuko never shown any of these signs. She almost never did any of these when we travel with her." BoBoiBoy told her. It is true that she never went out at night to hunt for human flesh. She was neutrally behaved in those years, much to his observation.

"You're right. This miracle will be the key to finding a solution."

"Well all right!" BoBoiBoy beamed with happiness. They had finally found the lead and a step forward of bringing Nezuko back into a human. He watched Tanjiro putting a hand on Nezuko's and she happily took his hand like a little child.

"The other request I have for you two is a harsh one." Tamayo reluctantly said.

"By "**demons closely related to Kibutsuji**.", I meant demons whose powers are more on par with that of Kibutsuji himself. It won't be easy to extract blood from such demons. Are both of you still willing to go along with my requests?"

Tanjiro looked uncertain. He came this far just to take this chance of finding a cure for Nezuko, but having to extract blood from a demon closely powerful to that of Muzan is a complete twist he doesn't expect.

"If there's no other way, then we'll do it." Tanjiro accepted her requests. "If it means you're going to research all these demons' blood and create this medicine..."

"It will not just be Nezuko but to everyone that just became a demon to turn back into a human, right?" BoBoiBoy completed his sentence and flashed a smile at Tamayo. She was surprised but returned the gesture as well.

"That's right." Her smile was toxic to them as they have blushing cheeks. Yushiro literally gnarls at them and they were startled at the sudden action.

"C-C-Calm down there, Yushiro. It's not like we—"

His ears suddenly perked up and detected a hurling sound that's heading. The mark for the cloak was instantly destroyed and a Temari ball was seen.

"Get down!/Take cover!" They yelled and protected themselves. Yushiro protected Tamayo from the two Temari balls while BoBoiBoy deflecting them away using his sword. The destruction caused enough damage to form a hole in a wall and the Temari retreated back to their owner.

A femal demon was laughing all the way as grabbed her Temari balls.

"Did you decide how to kill them?" The male demon with each eye on his hands asked.

"Vindictively, of course!" She responded and threw the balls again. They swerved around like they had a mind of its own and was hurling straight at them again.

Yushiro braced himself and shielded Tamayo using his body. Tanjiro also shielded Nezuko and BoBoiBoy on the front acting as a line of defense put on his offensive stance, sword on hand.

"Looks like we have uninvited guests. And they're not exactly warm on welcomes either."

* * *

**It was supposed to be finished last week when all of a sudden,**

**"You've been attacked by a wild HOMEWORK."**

***What will you do?**

**Do**

**Procrastinate**

**Cry**

**Throw in Trash**

**Let's all be real, we want the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ones. The 1st one...?**

**Not gonna happen any time ω**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see y'all later.**

**~Ciao**. **（）**


	10. Temari Demon and Arrow Demon

With the cloaking mechanism destroyed, they have been infiltrated by none other than two demons, named **Yahaba**, the demon with eyes on his on the palms of his hands, and **Susamaru**, the female demon with temari balls as her choice of weapon. They have been assigned to come and eliminate the Demon Slayers that discovered Muzan Kibutsuji's unseen disguise.

Susamaru is laughing hysterically. "You were right, Yahaba! A building just appeared out of nowhere!"

"The handiwork of a **Blood Demon Arts** wielder adept at hiding objects." Yahaba said and detected the living people inside the house.

"And are the demon hunters accompanied by a demon? What's going on here?"

"Isn't this fun?" She laughed once again.

"Still, I have to say Susamaru... Your way of doing things is so immature. So careless. You splattered me! You splattered my kimono with dust!" He complained.

"Oh, stop whining! We found them right away thanks to my temari, so who cares? And now we can have tons of fun!" She threw her temari balls again and caused more damage to household than before.

"You've gone and splattered me again!" Yahaba whined behind her.

"You're so uptight. Your kimono isn't the least bit soiled. And besides..."

The smoke and dust created by the damage from the temari balls begins to dissipate and revealed BoBoiBoy in a defensive stance and behind him were Tanjiro, Nezuko, Tamayo, and Yushiro, both males huddled up to protect their partners.

"Found 'em! Found 'em!"

BoBoiBoy narrowed his eyes at Susamaru and adjusted his stance a bit. 'Is that what they call a temari ball? How can such a small ball deal this much damage? Furthermore, are they one of Muzan's minions?'

She hysterically laughed then threw the temari balls back to the hole, where the inhabitants are in. BoBoiBoy deflected the oncoming temari balls, but that only caused it to blunt the blows he received despite the balls aimed at them. One temari ball is hurling real close to Yushiro.

"Lady Tamayo!" Yushiro braced for the temari ball but surprisingly, the ball paused before positioning itself to the side and quickly splattered Yushiro's head clean off, spewing out blood.

"Yushiro!" Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy watched in horror as they witnessed his head exploded from the small ball.

"His head! His head just got blasted!" BoBoiBoy exclaimed with a terrified face.

"Dammit! Nezuko! Take the lady sleeping in the back room somewhere safe outside!" Tanjiro told his younger sister behind him. Nezuko nodded at her brother.

"It's too dangerous outside. We have a basement, so take her there!" Tamayo recommended.

"Understood! Nezuko!" Nezuko begins to run back inside to take the injured woman underneath the house. Tanjiro hurriedly went to BoBoiBoy's side and took his stance.

"How are you holding up!?" Tanjiro asked him.

"Just barely with these temari balls launching everywhere!" He replied while deflecting the temari ball left and right.

Susamaru giggled. "That's one down!"

_'The way she's doing, I think she's a different one compared to the other demons I've fought. Her sound pattern is really heavy and made my head going in a loop sometimes. It feels rambunctious.'_ BoBoiBoy thought as he held onto the handle of his sword.

The temari balls swerved their way back to their owner's hands. She bounced them up and down repeatedly as she observed them from that level of distance.

"The demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings and the other demon hunter with a white streak on his hair... are the two of you, aren't you?"

They were taken aback to what she said.

"We're the ones they're targeting?" BoBoiBoy was surprised. Why would they want them? Unless someone ordered them to hunt them down for the process of elimination.

"Miss Tamayo! Please find a safe place to hide! We're the ones those demons are after!" Tanjiro told them to retreat to someplace safe.

"Listen, I want you both to fight without worrying about us. We'll be fine without your protection." Tamayo said as her eyes reflected on the boys. "Since we're demons."

He understood. Since they are demons, they won't have to worry about them getting hurt from their fight because they can regenerate any wounds or lost limbs. But neither to the boys because they're both human.

"Okay. Be careful, still!"

Susamaru raised her arms up, holding the temari balls on her hands. "All right. It's all over for you now!"

She threw them again for the third time and this time with even more force and speed. The balls are coming at them hot.

"Do you have any moves that can stop a fast moving object? 'Cause I already thought of one." BoBoiBoy questioned, which earned him a nod from the other.

"Yeah. I have one in mind. Let's do this."

They closed their eyes and calculated the temari balls' movement patterns by scent and sound. They got the temari balls locked-on by analyzing them internally and knows what move they'll be using.

_'Of the ten forms... the fastest thrusting technique...'_ They narrated in their heads. The balls are getting dangerously closer.

**_'Total Concentration... Water Breathing/Lightning Breathing... Seventh Form/Ninth Form, Drop Ripple Thrust-curve!/Thrusting Wave Spark-curve!'_**

Each of them unleashed their fastest stabbing technique. Tanjiro's stabbing move stopped his temari ball from moving and made a water ripple sound, indicating that a barrier has been set up to stop the ball from moving any more. BoBoiBoy's move permanently stopped the temari ball completely by purely stabbing in a diagonal stabbing angle. Lightning sparks around the temari ball and glowed a yellow flash and exploded on impact.

_'Oh, so both of you thrust the balls at the curve diagonally to soften the temari's blow while the other temari just exploded by lightning. Not a bad move, but...'_

The temari ball that Tanjiro just stabbed suddenly shakes and forces itself to hit Tanjiro and breaks itself free of his black sword.

"It can still move around? What kind of temari ball is that anyway?" BoBoiBoy said before slicing off the last temari ball that hit Tanjiro. "Are you okay?"

Tanjiro faced him and nodded. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just a little shaken up. But overall, I'm fine."

BoBoiBoy relieved a sigh. "Glad to hear it. But for right now, demons first." Tanjiro nodded then they both got in their stances.

"Yushiro! Yushiro!" Tamayo exclaimed not too loud as she's still holding the body of Yushiro. Not for long, it's as if Yushiro can somehow hear her without his head in place, it begins to regenerate while the lower jaw is still reforming.

"La..." Is the first word that comes of the lower jaw. The boys were startled and creeped out by this scene.

"Lady Tamayo! Didn't I tell you? That we shouldn't get involved with those demons hunters! From the start! My Blindfold technique is still a work in progress! I know you're well aware of that yourself!"

"I may be able to conceal the presence of buildings and people, their scent, but it's not like I can mask their very existence!

_'So he's the one that conceals this whole place? That's quite amazing.'_ BoBoiBoy thought and he continued listening to Yushiro.

"The greater our numbers, the more traces we'll leave, and the greater the odds that Kibutsuji will discover us!"

_'He's right. Even if his technique is still not complete, he is greatly concern for Miss Tamayo's safety. And for the demons, it's no wonder I detected a faint sound after coming here.'_ BoBoiBoy thought.

"Anyone who ruins the time I spend alone with you... I despise such people!" Yushiro's words were filled with venom and his head was now back to its original formation after the regenerating process is done. "I despise them with passion! It's unforgivable!"

Meanwhile on the outside of the house, Susamaru threw her black haori in the air and started to laugh once again.

"Hey, he's babbling!" She said then proceeds to remove the upper part of her kimono, revealing her upper torso. "What fun this is! What fun this is! To be killed by me, one of the Twelve Demon Moons... You should be honored!"

"Twelve Demon Moons?" His ears perked up at the mention of it.

"They serve directly under Kibutsuji!" Tamayo reminded them.

Susamaru's sides were grumbling violently until they burst out four additional arms on either sides of her torso. She now has six arms in total.

"No way! She grew more arms in just a second!" BoBoiBoy can hardly believe it.

She summoned more of her temari balls and bounced them on the ground. "Now then, let's keep playing! Until morning comes! Until you both die!"

_'Now she's being arrogant. This isn't good.'_

More additional temari balls are being thrown and kept wrecking havoc inside the room. The boys are trying their hardest to defend themselves from the oncoming temari balls.

"They're so many of them!" BoBoiBoy shouted as he dodged a temari ball aimed at his face, but they always find a way to come back and strike him at any direction.

"Hang in there!" Tanjiro yelled and sliced more temari balls everywhere in his sight. "Try not to get hit by them at all costs!"

"I'm trying!" He replied. They're going nowhere with them continuously slicing and weaving around.

_'Two different sounds of the demons, there are exactly two! Their sound tells me where they are!'_

Three temari balls were closing in on Yushiro and Tamayo and got struck in different parts of their body, causing both to bleed from the balls' unpredictable movements.

"Miss Tamayo! Yushiro!" Tanjiro shouted while still defending himself from the round projectiles.

_'This isn't good! We don't have time to protect them!'_ He thought and blocked more of the balls hurling his way.

"We'll be healed soon enough! So, don't worry!" Tamayo tried to unnerve them. Yushiro held the injured part of his head and shouted at them.

"Hey! Moron demon hunters! If you look at the arrows, you can tell which direction they're going! Dodge the arrows!"

"Arrows?" They said in confusion. Yushiro clicked his tongue.

"Seriously, you can't even see them?" He pulled a paper that contains a spell within and showed it them. "Here! I'm going to lend you my sense of sight! But I only have one at the moment! This should at least enable you to behead that temari woman!"

He tossed the paper and landed itself on Tanjiro's forehead. It took a moment for the paper's spell to take effect but now he is able to see the arrows.

"I can see now! She was using these arrows to control... the trajectory of the temari!" Tanjiro said and dodged the temari balls with ease now thanks to the temporary enhanced sense of sight. On the other hand, BoBoiBoy is having difficulty dodging every temari balls aimed everywhere.

_'Looks like I'll have to use **it**.'_ While dodging, he concentrated deeply before tapping in to his secret ability.

"**Heightened Senses: Activate!**"

The world around him became clearer, slower and leaner. His sense of sight became narrow and linear. His sense of hearing increased thrice and his sense of touch dramatically increased.

'I can only maintain it for a while. I gotta make this work!' With that said, the arrows began to appear in his line of sight, indicating that the ability BoBoiBoy used worked.

BoBoiBoy danced around the temari balls with no effort thanks to his enhanced sense. Tanjiro was slightly surprised BoBoiBoy can move around without getting hit by any of the temari balls. He figured he used a technique to use for his benefit and it seemed to be working.

"You can see them too?" Tanjiro asked in the midst of weaving.

"Yeah! The arrows are crystal clear to me now.

"Then, hurry up and defeat her!" Yushiro shouted.

After a while, Nezuko emerged from the room and looked at the rampaging sight in front of her.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro found her. "Nezuko, let's go outside! Take care of the demon up in the tree! BoBoiBoy, with me!"

"Got it!"

He sheathed his sword then draws in a huge amount of oxygen around him.

"**Elemental Breathing... Second Form...**"

A yellow circle illuminated around him.

"**Duo Split!**"

As he chanted, BoBoiBoy now came out of the circle, revealing BoBoiBoy Wind and BoBoiBoy Lightning to enter the battlefield. Wind accompanied Nezuko to find the other demon and Lightning accompanied Tanjiro to battle the female demon.

"Huh? There's two of them?" Susamaru was shocked to see two versions of BoBoiBoy in her vision. Baffled and stunned, she watched as Wind and Nezuko jumped across her in pursuit of Yahaba.

"Don't even think about going after them!" Lightning said in an angry tone.

"We're the ones you want to take on!" Tanjiro gritted his teeth and glared at Susamaru.

"The demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings... And the demon hunter with a white streak on his black hair... No question. I'm going to bring your those heads of yours to **him**."

They prepared what was coming for them. Susamaru threw all her temari balls at them again. "What fun this is!"

They continue to elude around and try to escape from the temari balls' trajectory. The arrows pinpointed their exact location and almost struck them. Lightning relatively dodged most of them with quick speed thanks to his breathing technique. Tanjiro did it the hard way and ran away from the temari balls as carefully as possible to not get hit by them.

_'Nezuko, Wind! How much longer?'_

Meanwhile, Wind and Nezuko hopped around, tree after tree, in search for the other male demon controlling the arrows.

"Nezuko, over there!" Wind quickly spotted the demon right away and pointed at him. Both of them acrobatically attacked him individually. Nezuko kicked Yahaba twice followed up by Wind axe kicking him in the head, to which Yahaba blocked them using his forearms.

The distraction made the arrows controlling the trajectory of the temari balls disappear all at once.

_'They're gone! Nice work Wind, Nezuko!'_ Lightning thought as Tanjiro is going to unleash his deadly technique. "Now, Tanjiro!"

He heard it and unleased his Water Breathing move. "**Water Breathing...**"

He slashed the balls one by one while mimicking the movement of a flow of a harsh tide, creating water patterns to leave in his traces of himself of where he slashed the balls.

"**Third Form, Flowing Dance!**"

He finished it up by getting up close to Susamaru and slashed her arms all at once with just a single slice of his sword from using his third form of the Water Breathing.

"Miss Tamayo!" Lightning called out to her. "Are those two demons closely related to Kibutsuji?"

"Most likely." Tamayo answered while holding her injured head.

"Tanjiro, those demons are related to Muzan!" He informed to Tanjiro about it. This serves as a convenience and good news as they finally found the demons they are looking for.

"Then, I'm going to extract blood from them for sure!" He declared and put his sword behind his back.

_'This isn't the time but, are you showing off, Tanjiro, by doing that?'_ Lightning slightly sweatdropped.

Instead of being worried or scared, Susamaru laughed. "You think you're going to extract blood from us? I don't know what you're scheming, but I won't allow you to do anything to displease **him**!"

Tanjiro continued to glare at her. As for Lightning, he winced in pain from the effects of having his Heightened Senses active in a long period of time.

_'Crap! Not now!'_ He grabbed his head with his free hand after feeling the strains of his secret ability.

"If you think you can extract blood from us Twelve Demon Moons, then have at it." She finished.

"The two of you, watch your back! Don't let your guard down for a second! If those two really are Twelve Demon Moons, then they're undeniably more formidable than any other demons you've killed until now!" Yushiro gave them a heads-up.

"Right! Understood! Watch our backs, don't let our guard down for a second, undeniably... until now... Right! We'll do our best!" Tanjiro literally repeated what Yushiro told them, which earned him a blank look from Lightning.

"Lady Tamayo! Let's use those two as decoys and escape!"

Tamayo gasped and felt betrayed as she heard those words.

"I'm just kidding!" Yushiro took his words back.

* * *

Back to Wind And Nezuko, they found the arrow demon and kicked him in various places.

"Don't stir up up dust like that. So filthy!" Yahaba opened his palms and the eyes that are on it closed.

"Huh?" Wind felt like he's being levitated and was thrown somewhere else away from him and Nezuko too.

"Nezuko!" He yelled after her as she, too, was levitated and thrown as well.

Back to Susamaru, her arms regrew in an instant and were ready to take on them again.

"She grew new arms in such a short time!" Lightning whispered to Tanjiro.

"She can regenerate faster than those Final Selection demons!" He whispered back.

"I'm going to bring those heads of yours to **him**."

Sweat trickled down their heads as they know that this will be a tough battle between her and them. Before they can do anything, two shadows loomed above them to see two flying people coming to them.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro said and Nezuko landed on him, causing both of them to land on the ground.

"Wind, what the—" He didn't finish when Wind roughly landed on his face, making them both crash on the ground. Both of them grunted from the slight pain they both received.

The arrow demon that was on the tree descended to join the battle, knowing that his position has been compromised by Nezuko and Wind.

"Now then, why don't you all die at once?" She threw two temari balls at the fallen people. They reacted just in time to move out of harm's way.

"Are you okay, Nezuko?" Tanjiro expressed his concern to his sister. She nodded. "Wind, Lightning, what about you two?"

Lightning removed himself from Wind's grasp. "As fit as a fiddle. We're all right."

"Hey, Demon Hunters!" They heard Yushiro calling to them. "You get rid of that arrow man first! We'll take on the temari woman with your sister!"

"Understood!" Tanjiro replied. "Nezuko, whatever you do, don't push yourself too hard."

When she brought her head up, she saw Tamayo coming out of the room to be with Yushiro. Her mind thought of them replaced them as she sees them as her mother and younger brother, Kie Kamado and Rokuta Kamado. This prompted her to activate her demon form once again.

Wind took a moment of himself before letting himself up. Lightning got behind his back, ready to take on the arrow demon with Tanjiro, and letting Wind taking care of the temari demon with Nezuko.

"Ready when you are, Tanjiro." Lightning waited for his signal.

"Right. We're counting on you." Tanjiro let out his signal by charging forward toward the arrow demon and Nezuko launched forward as well towards the temari demon. The two BoBoiBoys followed them respectively.

"If we get them soon, we'll extract their blood as well." Lightning mumbled. "If it means the medicine for curing demons will be perfected even a minute sooner, I'll gladly fight demons that stands in my way! I'll fight and win!"

Not for long, he heard the sound of the Opening Thread immediately.

_'There it is! The Opening Thread! This is way too easy!'_

Yahaba clicked his tongue. "What grimy little urchins you are. You stay away from me!"

He brought his palm and the eye closed, meaning that he activated his Blood Demon Arts. The thread that was on Yahaba had snapped.

_'The thread... snapped?'_ Lightning widened his eyes, not realizing an arrow that sweeped his feet off. He almost sliced off the arrow demon's head and Tanjiro failed to deliver it too.

Lightning and Tanjiro screamed all the way as they were dragged along the arrows stuck on them and hit them in different places. Doing this left collateral damage littered around the ground, the wall, and the trees.

_'This hurts! I mean it really, really hurts!'_ Lightning thought until he couldn't take it anymore smashes being done to his body.

The eye from Yahaba's hand blinked and sent them upwards. Both of them zigzagged across the air, unable to to do anything about it. The arrows on them disappeared and they are descending on the sky.

_'We're free! Now I can land us to the ground!'_

Lightning breathed in deep.

**_'Lightning Breathing! Sixth Form! Bolt Leap!'_** Lightning dashed leaving a lightning trail behind him and caught Tanjiro just in time and landed safely on the hard ground.

"Thanks! I would have landed a rough one if it wasn't for you!" Tanjiro heaved for breath for how many times he's been dragged in random places.

"No problem. But it's not over yet." He glared at Yahaba.

* * *

Next scene shows Susamaru throwing her temari balls again at Nezuko and Wind. The two latters dodged easily from the hurling projectiles; Nezuko evades using the ground as her leverage in dodging while Wind danced around and jumping in the air.

Yushiro is seen running towards Susamaru blindly and activated his cloaking technique, that enables the user to turn invisible.

"He vanished?" She said in a surprised tone. Yushiro close-quartered-combatted her while she can't even see where he lands the attack.

"That's awesome!" Wind grinned seeing Yushiro in action, thanks to his temporary enhanced sense of sight. Yushiro uncloaked himself after he got the demon down on her knees and pointed at the downed female demon.

"You hurt Lady Tamayo! I'll never forgive you for that!" He threatened her.

"Tamayo?" Yahaba heard it. "Hey, Susamaru, the one over there... Wouldn't that be Tamayo the Fugitive? What a great souvenir she'll make!"

"A... A fugitive? Miss Tamayo?" Wind said astounded from the new fact.

"Is that right?" Susamaru slowly stood up from her position and simultaneously threw all her temari balls at everyone except Tamayo. Nezuko evaded it and was about to kick the temari ball.

"Idiot!" Yushiro yelled at her.

"You mustn't kick it!" Wind heard Tamayo's warning and tried to stop Nezuko.

"Nezuko! Don't!" Wind tried to reach out for Nezuko but it was too late. She kicked the ball but only to lose her right leg.

"NEZUKO!"

Susamaru maniacally laughed. "Let's play some kemari then!"

From seeing Nezuko hurt like that sparked an unexplainable anger inside of Wind. A turbulent of air picked up and enveloped his entire body. His eyes glowed an ominous blue hue.

"Now get lost!" She got into a kicking position to kick Nezuko while she's down.

"**Wind Breathing... Fourth Form...**" Wind's sword turned a complete sky blue. He stanced on his sword and readied himself to unleash his strong technique.

"**Gale Blade of Terror!**" He let out a single horizontal slash, cherry blossoms appeared out of nowhere and sent a barrage of wind slashes directly at Susamaru. She didn't have time to move out of the way and she was struck repeatedly in her middle torso. The attack sent her skidding across the area, gaining distance from her and Wind. She puked out lots of blood and got down on both knees, letting the blood to trickle down om the ground.

"What an attack..." Yushiro spectated the whole thing. How Wind handled the temari demon exceeds his expectations. He watched him pick up Nezuko and carried her inside while holding the removed limb, her right leg, on his left hand, and gave it to Tamayo.

"Please, take care of Nezuko." Wind carefully gestured nezuko to Tamayo and leave her in her care. "Get her leg reattached. Yushiro and I will handle things here."

Tamayo nodded, accepting his small request. "I'll give her my aid. Be careful."

Wind grinned a bit and went beside Yushiro. The other boy gazed at him.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" His playful side took over. Yushiro went furious and almost lashed out on Wind.

"Shut up!"

* * *

Yahaba felt like he's trapped in a corner. Susamaru is temporarily disabled now by Wind's earlier attack. But now he has two bigger problems in his plate, and those are Tanjiro and Lightning.

"You damn rats...!" He is now irritated and angry.

"You have any ideas on how we should go about this?" Lightning asked.

"We just need to strike him on the right time and on the right angle. Any moves would be pointless as we get blasted away by the arrows." He answered.

"Yeah. We're getting nowhere if we keep dodging his arrows. Even if we somehow attack it, we'll just get blasted by the arrow's direction either way." Lightning clicked his tongue after knowing of getting pass the arrows.

"We'll think of something eventually. And besides." Tanjiro made a creeped out face. "I hate to say it, but those eyeballs on his hands are creepy! Though I hate to say it!"

Lightning sighed although he did agreed with him there. They were too creepy for his liking.

Both of the eyeballs blinked and more arrows emerged out of Yahaba. All of them sped down fast but they kept on dodging.

"They're not gonna stop until it hits one of us!" Lightning said to himself. He tried to slice any of them, only for him to be sent towards a wall. He gasped in pain then let go of his sword. A lone arrow tried to get him from below but it only caught his haori.

Now Lightning, without his haori, is forced to go on the offensive. He watched as Tanjiro evaded some arrows but got struck with one arrow and was sent to the wall again. Lightning made an attempt to attack Yahaba while he's occupied with Tanjiro. Somehow, Yahaba had his right arm ensnared.

"It's all going the way I want it to! Your arm's going to get twisted right off!"

Lightning then had an idea and run towards a tree, ran up the tree bark, then jumped and did multiple roll flips on the same direction as the arrow, thus releasing it. He grabbed the sword he dropped and gripped it with his hands.

"So, you eluded it by spinning in the same direction as the Kouketsu Arrow? Damn monkey!"

"Lightning!" Tanjiro hastened his way to Lightning. "I have a plan to get us close to the demon!"

"Then say it!" Lightning said impatiently.

"We have to change the arrows' direction without touching it directly. First, I'll use my Water Breathing Sixth Form to envelope the arrows. Second, I'm going to reuse my Third Form's footwork and work my way towards him using the arrows' direction as my booster." Tanjiro makes sure to tell him his plan.

"That sounds like a good plan. I'll be sure to help you in case you miss the opportunity."

"Even so, I need you in this if I wanted to make this happen! Just stop the demon's arrows from reaching me after I do my attacks! Do you think you can do it?"

Lightning nodded firmly. "Right! Let's do this!"

Tanjiro nodded, and together, they glanced at the demon.

"It's about time you both die!" Yahaba and blinked his hands' eyeballs respectively.

More arrows emerged and Tanjiro will be initiating his plan. As he evaded the arrows, he allowed them to follow him until some arrows in front of him closed in on Tanjiro. He worked his way around the arrows then use the momentum to create his modified attack by combining his two Water Breathing forms.

"**Twisting Whirlpool-Flowing Water!**"

When Yahaba took notice of his arrows being used for something, he summoned more Kouketsu Arrows in hopes of disrupting from what Tanjiro is about to do.

"Not on my watch!" Lightning intercepted.

_'Just like Tanjiro's, I'll be redirecting them if I can just time this right!'_ Lightning got in the arrows' way and now the arrows found their new target and gave chase to Lightning.

_'That's it! I've caught their attention! I'll be able to do my next move!'_ When the arrows are getting closer to Lightning, he inhaled a sharp oxygen then released his technique.

'**_Lightning Breathing... Fifth Form... Modified!'_**

Lightning twisted his upper and lower body, then suddenly sparks of electricity consumed him and became a lightning twister. The arrows doubled the technique's power with its speed, and the arrows mixed in with the lightning.

**_'Horizontal Plasma Twister!'_**

"**Second Form... Modified!**" Tanjiro shifted his body in a landscape view then prepared his final attack on the arrow demon. Lightning got in close with Tanjiro, combining the use of the Lightning Breathing Fifth Form he used into Tanjiro's, and now, creating the greatest combination to be used on the arrow demon.

**"Horizontal Lightning-Styled Water Wheel!**"

* * *

**Another chapter finished! I'm really excited to do the next two chapters soon! I'll probably update them soon in this week or next week if I'm productive enough.**

**If you guys enjoyed, please leave a vote/comment and I'll see y'all in the next one!**

**ã (oÏ )ï Baiii.**


	11. Together Forever

**"Lateral Lightning-Styled Water Wheel!"**

Mixing different attacks from different breathing techniques isn't an easy feat. It would take a tactical effort to be able to pull it off, even in a dire situation that requires a quick reaction or a plan. Tanjiro, however, used his quick wits and together with BoBoiBoy Lightning's impressive precise speed, they made it look easy.

With one sequential slice, mixed with the power of water and lightning, they slashed off Yahaba's head, leaving his neck area erupting blood and his body slumped down on the ground. The boys both crashed on the ground after doing their combo technique.

"Aughh...!" Lightning winced in pain. It was stronger than before. His Heightened Senses wore off, leaving him with the after-effects of the hidden ability. Veins appeared on his head and was breathing heavily.

_'I maintained it... for too long... Now my head... is aching in sharp pain...'_ Lightning gritted his teeth and made an attempt to get up slowly. He lend a hand to Tanjiro and he happily accepted it.

"We did it..." Tanjiro grinned.

"It is thanks to your plan, we managed to slice off the arrow demon's neck." Lightning praised.

"Yeah. The Whirlpool move loses force when it's not underwater. But thanks to my opponent's attack, it gained power and I was able to envelope the arrows." Tanjiro explained how it happened.

"Furthermore, I was able to redirect the demon's arrows by making the arrows chase me and to use the Twister move to double the power and use the arrows against it, also combining yours and slashing his neck." Lightning added. Combo moves were his forté. That time he made combo moves were with Earth, Wind, and Water. He was still getting the hang of it, however.

"Damn!" Yahaba's head rolled on the ground and a piece of his eyeball on his supposed-closed face fell out and left hanging. "Curse you! Curse you! Curse you!"

_'Holy— so he does have eyes in his head...'_ Lightning thought.

"All I had to do was bring back your heads and I would've won **his** approval! I'll never forgive you! I'll never ever forgive you! Shoving my face into this vile dirt!"

His body isn't entirely dead yet and responded by raising his hands, which revealed his eyeballs again.

"You're both going down with me!" The eyeballs blinked harshly. And several arrows were summoned in Tanjiro and Lightning.

"What in the world!?" Lightning exclaimed as he looked around his body to be covered in arrows pointing in different locations. He didn't have time to register what's going to happen later when he and Tanjiro were swerving in one direction.

_'The pull of the arrow is too strong! The force of moving it is insane! If this keeps up, I need to unleash a move to blunt the blow!'_ Lightning thought until a wall is nearing in his point of view.

_'I have to hurry or my body is gonna be smashed! **Fourth Form! Lightning Lash!'**_ He thrusted his sword on the wall, creating dentures and dust to form, and he crashed on the ground. Another arrow appeared pointing up and he flew up in the air quick.

_'Too... much... pressure. I can't even swing my sword because of it! Use a move! Just keep using a move to counter it!_ **_Second Form! Electric Stab!'_**

He unleashed another move and slash in the air, making sparks of electricity appear. An arrow pointing below appeared and it's hurling close to the roof.

"**Thunderbolt! Volt Barrage! Thrusting Wave Spark-curve! Furious Lightning Blade!**" Were his consecutive moves as he was dragged in many different places at a fast rate. Tanjiro, on the other hand, is also doing the same, unleashing sequential moves to soften their damages, even if it means using up every bits of energy in their body.

_'I've never made this many consecutive moves before! My arms and legs felt like jelly! I'm growing fatigue in a matter of seconds!'_

"Nowhere near enough! More... Suffer more!"

If one can see up in the air, they can see a variety of lightning and water zigzagging across the whole sky limit with arrows directing their bodies. Pushing past their limits, and heavy breaths were accompanied in the midst of all chaos that is happening above. Lightning and Tanjiro were the most unfortunate to ever suffer this much.

_'Keep... doing it... Just... Keep... Doing it!!!'_ Lightning is beyond mad, proven by the flashing yellow glow of his eyes. They grew even brighter until it's replaced with _red crimson orbs._

"Not yet! It's still not enough yet!" Yahaba's head completely distengrated.

"**Thunder Speed!**"

One mighty dash is all it takes to free himself from the arrows' grasp and he sped across until his arms caught Tanjiro and they both landed safely on the ground. Lightning's arms grew heavy and dropped Tanjiro and even himself. His eyes reverted back to his original yellow orbs.

They breathed really heavily, almost in a hyperventilating state. The battle was a hard fought. It costed them a broken leg and two broken ribs. They made an attempt to get up but was unable to. Lightning wanted to grip his sword's handle yet he cannot grasp onto it. Exhaustion fully consumes him and he fell back on the ground harshly. His body felt even heavier than he was before.

Tanjiro, being stubborn as he is, grabbed the sword using his teeth and crawled slowly towards his way to Nezuko, with Wind and Yushiro.

"It's all... up to... you now... Wind." Lightning said in between breathes and rested.

* * *

Susamaru dribbled on her temari balls until dust completely envelopes around them. She then threw her balls at them using this dust's advantage. Yushiro can be seen dodging the temari balls with relative ease along with Wind, with his enhanced senses still enabled.

"Ridiculous! It's child's play for me to evade a linear attack like this! Locating you is a breeze, as well!" Yushiro said and activated his cloaking spell.

"It's probably not a good idea to tell her what you know!" Wind told Yushiro but it was too late.

_'The same goes for you too.'_ Her grin just got wider. _'No matter how well you might conceal yourself, I can see you clear as day!'_

With one big swing of her arm, the temari ball found its way to Yushiro was about to smash his head.

"Not on my watch! **Wind Breathing... Third Form... Wind Wall Blade Mode!**"

Wind momentarily used his blade to block the incoming round projectile. Gusts of wind picked around Wind's sword and pushed the ball back somewhere.

"Aughhh!!" Wind got down on one knee as he felt strains from the Heightened Senses kicking in. He let go of his sword as an instinct.

"What is the problem with you?" Yushiro expresses slight concern for the other BoBoiBoy.

The female demon laughed in pure joy for seeing him in pain. "What fun this is! It'll be easier to deal with you now that you are vulnerable!"

Wind put a hand on his face. Blood is seen trickling down his forehead. The straining isn't going to stop soon as he kept up a strong guard.

"Heh... Now we're in trouble..." He said in a low tone. Yushiro heard him saying it and put up a strong front.

"Y-Yushiro...?" Wind said, a surprise expression on his face.

"It is disgusting for me to protect you of all people! But I know Lady Tamayo would be displeased and disheartened to see you die in front of her!" Yushiro said in an angry manner.

"So you do care for humans..." Wind smiled at him, which earned him a scowl from Yushiro himself.

"Hahahaha! What a lovely chat you guys have! But too bad that you are all going to die from me!" Susamaru threw her ball again, a more powerful throw than any throws she had ever done before. Yushiro braced himself for the impact while Wind closed his eyes in fear.

But it didn't arrive. Yushiro widened his eyes to see Nezuko kicking the ball out of his way with her newly recovered leg. Wind slowly opened his eyes, wondering why there was no noise of the ball smashing Yushiro's face. He was relieved and glad to see Nezuko well again.

"Nezuko! You're alright!" Wind cheerfully said from the sight of her.

"Hey you! Don't be so rash just because you're immortal!

Due to the hypnotism spell used on her, Nezuko sees Yushiro as her little brother, **Rokuta Kamado**. Her eyes wondered all over him.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Yushiro asked confusedly. Nezuko responded by rubbing his head with her hand, thinking it was her little brother. Wind watched with curious eyes until he bursts out with laughter.

"What do you think you're doing? Here it comes!" Yushiro dismissed her and Nezuko entered her combat prowess. She kicked away the ball thrown at her before kicking another ball back to Susamaru.

"Look at her." Yushiro stayed back and watched her do it and was impressed to how she managed to kick the temari ball full force.

Tamayo now appeared beside Yushiro. "Lady Tamayo..."

She spun her head around to face Wind with deep worry across her face. "Are you all right?"

Wind kindly waved her off. "My head's killing me but I'm okay for now."

Although he did say he's okay, Tamayo reached in through her kimono until she pulled out some kind of medicine and handed it over to him.

"Here. This will relieve your pain soon. Take some of it and you will be fine." She handed some painkillers to Wind, and thanked her for her concerns for him.

Back to the matter at hand, Nezuko kicked another ball back at Susamaru and caught the temari ball, albeit still spinning until it stopped.

_'You little brat! You little brat!'_ Surprise and anger were accompanied. _'So, now you can kick my temari back at me? How insolent!'_

She dropped the temari that was she was holding in her hand and decided to go along with it. A hard kick was sent to the ball and was received by Nezuko's own kick, and this time, she didn't lose her feet. The whole charade kept going and going, stirring up dust and cracks on the ground.

_'This is some next-level soccer if I ever see one!'_ Wind thought and continued to watch Nezuko and the female demon have at it. _'I'm really glad I wasn't in Nezuko's position right now! My feet would've been blown to bits!'_

"You damn brat!" Susamaru frustratingly pushed back the ball with enough force but Nezuko still countered it.

"Unbelievable. Lady Tamayo, is this..." Yushiro asked his partner behind him.

"I used a healing serum on her. Nothing more. Made exclusively for demons." She explained.

Yushiro dragged his attention to her now. "It doesn't make one physically stronger."

Wind walked beside Tamayo. "In other words, this is Nezuko's own strength. In just two years of not devouring any humans and able to survive without it."

"Precisely. Without devouring human blood... Solely on her own..." Tamayo finished.

"Hehe. Just take a good look at her now."

Yushiro saw him pointing his finger and looked to where he's pointing. Nezuko is struggling to kick the ball, with the force still going.

"Nezuko is gaining strength at a rapid rate." Nezuko struggled for a moment until she gained enough strength to overcome the ball's force and kicked its way back to her. Susamaru was shocked and stunned to see the ball swerved passed her in the blink of an eye and smashed the wall behind her.

_'However, her opponent is also formidable. If she were to go all-out, Nezuko wouldn't stand a chance. I've got to...'_

Her eyes glanced down at her arm and thought about using her spell against Susamaru. _'...do something.'_

Before she can do anything, she also noted that Wind is also right beside her. If she were to cast this spell, it would affect him entirely.

"BoBoiBoy..." Tamayo called to him.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I advise you to please cover your face. The technique that I will unleash will be toxicated for humans. Yushiro, hand him a clean cloth." Tamayo reminded Wind and commanded Yushiro to give him something to ward off the spell's effects on him.

Wind accepted the cloth given by Yushiro and wrapped it around his mouth and nose. He had no idea what the spell is but it's better to be safe than sorry. He'll just have to spectate what's going to happen next.

"Hahahahaha! You're an amusing little girl! This time, I'm going all-out against you!" She held up her hands and temari balls magically spawned out of nowhere. "I wonder how long you can hold out!"

Nezuko battle stanced as the fight is still not over. Veins popped up in the sides of her for head and glared at the demon so fierce-ly.

"Huh? Miss Tamayo?" Wind sees Tamayo walking up in front of Nezuko and faced to the temari demon.

"Twelve Kizuki demon girl there." Tamayo tried to strike up a conversation with her.

"You're in my way! Step back, you damn fugitive!" Susamaru warned her.

"Just tell me one thing please. Are you aware of Kibutsuji's true identity?"

The question threw her off guard. "What in the hell did you say?".

"Is she... taunting her?" Wind said in a muffled voice because of the cloth wrapped around his face.

"Just be quiet and let Lady Tamayo do her thing." Yushiro gestured him to be quiet.

"That **man** is nothing but a coward. **He** lives in constant fear of something."

Susamaru took a step back. "Stop it! Damn you! Stop it!"

"Do you know why it is that demons can't band together? The reason why demons cannibalize each other? It's to prevent other demons from banding together and attacking **him**. **He** manipulates demons to act this way. Demons like you."

"Shut up!" She then shakes her head. "Shut up! Shut up! No way is **he** that petty!"

_'I'm wondering why she kept referring Muzan as **he** and **him**? Is there something more from that?'_ Wind thought when interest and curiosity ruled over him. Unbeknownst to him, Tamayo is casting her spell now; noticable from her bleeding arm under her kimono's sleeve.

"The power **he** wields is mind-blowing! There's no one stronger than **him**! Not **Lord Kibutsuji!**"

There was a pause to what she said. Tamayo didn't say anything as well. Realization finally entered her mind and dropped her two temari balls on her hands. She also covered her mouth in horror.

"You uttered that name out loud, haven't you?" She revealed her arm and raised it up showing that her spell has activated and was in effect. "That will trigger the curse."

"What... What is that?" Wind sees an aromatic pattern waft around the area. He was about to life up his cloth-mask when Yushiro rashly covered it with his mouth.

"Don't inhale it! That's Magical Aroma of Daylight! It weakens its target's brain functions rendering that person unable to lie or keep secrets!" Yushiro explained Tamayo's spell.

_'I see... So it acts like a truth serum. That looks really pretty, though.'_ His eyes also went back to Susamaru, still in a frightened state.

_'Her body movements screams horror. And there's this groggy, creepy sound emanating inside of her! Is that the curse Miss Tamayo's referring to?'_

"I do feel sorry for you, but... farewell." She bid her farewell to the female demon.

What Wind didn't expect is she ran off from the side and yelled. "PLEASE FORGIVE ME! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! IM BEGGING YOU! PLEASE! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" Her skin is beginning to fade from grey skin to blood red in an instant, as well as her eyes that were bloodshot.

She dropped her temari ball and rolled right near Tanjiro and Lightning.

"Huh?" Lightning's eyes wandered around and saw Susamaru clenching her six arms around her. What he was disturbed at was the red colored skin and bloodshot eyes on her.

What happened first is the screaming, and the next thing happened are three huge unknown arms erupted out of her body. Tanjiro and Lightning gasped in horror, Wind and Yushiro looked on with terrified expressions. Blood left leaking out of Susamaru's body.

_'W-w-what... wh-what is.. t-t-that...?'_ Lightning, even in his own thoughts he fails to form a coherent thought. He never seen a gruesome sight, aside from Tanjiro's family's death, in his whole life.

The hand twitched and was slowly clawing out her head. She screamed in muffled terror then her head popped like a balloon from the hand's squeeze. The two BoBoiBoys, Tanjiro, and Yushiro were forced to watch the three hands killing her from the inside.

_'This is... so... brutal...!'_ Wind had to avert his eyes from seeing the nightmarish sight in play. The sounds of the mass and flesh being beaten like in the meat factory, the blood flowing down like a river and dyed the ground red, and the internal organs flying out of the body and slammed on the ground.

This went on for only a minute.

* * *

The horrifying event ceased this night. What's left of Susamaru is her twitching arm, her eyeball, and her kimono.

"Did she just die?" Tanjiro speak up after witnessing the almost-brutal death of a demon.

"She will die momentarily." Tamayo replied.

"Is this the curse?" Lightning asked.

Tamayo nodded. "Her physical body will be destroyed by Kibutsuji's cells still in her body. In general, battles between demons are futile. It's pointless. Because they can't inflict fatal wounds on each other. Only sunlights and swords of the Demon Slayer can do so."

They were quiet, not knowing what to say next.

"Kibutsuji alone appears to be able to destroy demon cells."

Before they can say anything, Wind and Yushiro both ran up to them, a cloth in hand, and covered their noses without them knowing.

"Don't go inhaling Lady Tamayo's spell! It's harmful to the human body! You got that?" Yushiro informed them. They nodded.

"Wind, you're okay..." Lightning is relieved. Wind crouched down and wrapped the cloth around Lightning's face. As soon as he is done, Wind tackled him in a gentle hug for comfort.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Wind cried on his shoulder. "I was so scared!"

Lightning rolled his eyes and returned the hug.

"You're so hopeless, you know that? It would take much more than that to bring me down." He boasted and smirked. Wind sniffed and adjusted his cloth-mask.

"Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy..." Tamayo called out to them. "She is not one of the Twelve Kizuki."

She pointed her index finger on the eyeball. "The Twelve Kizuki have numbers engraved on their eyeballs, but this demon doesn't have one. Most likely, the other demon isn't a member of the Twelve Kizuki, either. They're too weak."

Their hearts sank as they know that the demons they were fighting were not one of the Twelve Demon Moons, and were surprised to know that they were weak.

"Too weak? At that level?" Tanjiro said astonished.

"If Lady Tamayo says so, there's no mistake. Still, who knew there were such stupid demons? She physically injured Lady Tamayo. She got what she deserved." Yushiro smirked.

"Harsh." Both BoBoiBoys said simultaneously.

Tamayo used an injector to extract the blood out of the twitching hand. "I hope this blood will be instrumental in developing the healing serum." She put the extracted blood inside her case.

"I'm going to take care of Nezuko. Not only did I medicate her, she also inhaled my spell inadvertently. I'm so sorry." Tamayo apologized and proceeded to go over to Nezuko.

Yushiro gasped. "Don't move a muscle! You're on your own now! I don't want to leave Lady Tamayo's side! Not for a second!"

Yushiro then ran off, leaving the three behind, to be Tamayo for the time-being. They remained there for a few moments when they heard something.

"Ma... ri..." The voice of Susamaru emanated somewhere on the spot of where she got killed.

"Mari... Mari..."

Tanjiro is the first to stand up, followed by Wind and Lightning. He grabbed the temari ball and put it down to the same spot.

"Here's your mari." Tanjiro said as he put it down.

"Play with me..." She sounded so sad. "Play with me..."

Wind had a look of sympathy on his face. "What a sad note... it's like the voice of a little kid. Even if you probably murdered lots of people."

On cue, the sun has risen on the horizon, illuminating the damp night. The sun rays had evaporated what's left of Susamaru, like her severed arm that misted into ashes.

"You were deluded into thinking... that you were in the Twelve Kizuki. You were tricked into thinking you were one and were compelled to fight about it..." Lightning said.

"And now... you were killed by the Kibutsuji curse. This is really messed up... You were killed in the worst way possible." Wind added.

Tanjiro had shaky eyes. The thought had come across him of how he viewed demons as very desperate to try and escape from the person they feared most, some demons at least. Raw determination sits on Tanjiro's face, looking at the rising sun that almost overlooked the horizon.

"Kibutsuji... This is how that man treats even those who revere him! He's a true... demon!" Tanjiro said and looked up at the sky.

* * *

Cherry blossomed trees sway in the wind peacefully, after the events of what happened last night. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy, merged back into one, walked to the hole in the wall leading inside Tamayo's room.

"Look at all the damage being done to this room." BoBoiBoy commented as he looked around.

"Miss Tamayo! Yushiro?" Tanjiro looked for them around the damaged room. No sign of them.

"Over here! Over here!" Theybheard Yushiro's voice emanating in the basement. "Not that you need to come at all. But if you want, then get down here."

"Yushiro!" Tamayo scolded.

"Only joking!"

"Hehe. So much for that." BoBoiBoy silently laughed and Tanjiro slowly followed.

"Hurry down, then, both of you!"

They slowly descended down the basement using the narrowed stairs. BoBoiBoy is the first to come and following close behind is Tanjiro. They made it to the room and was greeted by Nezuko running towards them.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro was happy to see her and she wrapped her arms around them, embracing them in a warm hug. They whole-heartedly accepted the hug courtesy from Nezuko.

"Hey Nezuko." BoBoiBoy cooed at her and she beamed at him from her eyes. He was very happy that Nezuko now sees him as Tanjiro's life-long brother figure and she treated him like she's her big brother.

"I moved her to this basement, where the sunlight won't reach her, ahead of daybreak." Tamayo explained her purpose of moving Nezuko in here.

"Nezuko?" Tanjiro asked when Nezuko removed the hug. She quickly went over to Tamayo and hugged her as well. Yushiro flinched at the sight of her hugging his partner.

"Why, you! Step away from Lady Tamayo! That's so rude!" He shouted at Nezuko.

"Stop it, Yushiro." Tamayo calmly dismissed him. "I don't mind at all."

"Yes ma'am!" He obeyed. _'You have such a kind heart, Lady Tamayo. You're too beautiful to believe!'_

Nezuko also spotted Yushiro and patted him in the head.

"Cut... That... Out!"

"Hehehe! Awesome!" BoBoiBoy flashed a thumbs up at them and said his signature catchphrase. Tanjiro still didn't know what he meant by that.

"Nezuko has been acting in this way since she awoke. Do you think she's all right?"

Tanjiro walked forward. "There's nothing to worry about. She's fine."

"It's because of the hypnotic spell on her, she thinks you're part of Tanjiro's family." BoBoiBoy said from behind Tanjiro.

"Cut it out!" Yushiro got annoyed and backed Nezuko's arm off of him.

"Family?" Tamayo said in a confused tone. "But I thought the spell Nezuko is under causes her to see humans as family. And Yushiro and I are demons."

"Cut it out!" Yushiro still blocked Nezuko's arm trying to pat him.

"But Nezuko has perceived you two as humans. That's why she tried to protect you." Tanjiro said, making Tamayo looked at him in wonder.

"In the beginning, you really didn't like having the spell around her right?" BoBoiBoy questioned.

"Yeah, 'cause it doesn't feel right, having a spell that controls your mind. But it's all right for me now."

"I know right? I'm just getting used to the things Nezuko do in her time and—"

He stopped as they saw Tamayo letting out tears.

"Waahh! W-We're sorry! Nezuko!" BoBoiBoy exclaimed.

"Nezuko! S-Step away from her! It's rude, all right?" Tanjiro joined.

But Nezuko wouldn't let her go. Tamayo just buried her face into Nezuko's shoulder while letting her tears flow. "Thank you... Nezuko! Thank you."

They eventually calmed down after hearing Tamayo say her gratitude to the demon Kamado sibling. Yushiro, who didn't react at this, reflected on the time when he first met Tamayo in the prison room beside him.

_"Do you still wish to live?"_ A flashback started between an ill human Yushiro and Tamayo, with Tamayo tending to Yushiro, who was laying down on a futon with a wet cloth on his forehead. This happened 200 years ago.

_"Do you still wish to live even if you're no longer a human?"_ Tamayo had offered him a chance to live anew as a demon.

_"If this goes on, you will most likely succumb to your illness. However, losing your humanity will cause you pain and grief. Do you still wish to live?"_ Yushiro looked on to her, with a look of sadness and hesitation.

BoBoiBoy stared at the dull green haired boy. _'The look on his face... Yushiro... You're thinking about why you became a demon, aren't you? I can tell by closely hearing what you think.'_

Even if they don't get along well, with Yushiro becoming a demon in exchange for his humanity, he is still human deep down and it's his way of being considerate towards others, even if he was being a jerk to both Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"Yushiro and I will be leaving this region." Tamayo declared. "We've gotten to close to Kibutsuji. We must conceal our whereabouts soon or the risk will be too great. Not to mention, even if I think I've concealed my identity."

"Why is that?" BoBoiBoy wondered what she meant by that.

"When I interact with humans as a doctor, people sometimes see through me as a demon. The young and the elderly are particularly perceptive."

"Hm." BoBoiBoy mused. _'People these days are just too paranoid when it comes to demons. I feel bad for Miss Tamayo and Yushiro.'_

"Tanjiro..." Tamayo referred to the dark redhead.

"Yes?"

"Would you like us to take Nezuko in?" Tamayo offered them a choice and putting her hand on her chest to emphasize her words clearly, much to Yushiro's bewilderment on this said offer, and the boys' reaction on that.

"I can't give you an absolute guarantee that she'll be safe, but I believe it will be less dangerous than taking her into battle.." She said while Yushiro is shaking his head in desperation and begging that Tanjiro will not agree with it.

She then bats an eye on BoBoiBoy. "At least BoBoiBoy is there to aid you in the battlefield when you needed it. Even if you had trouble in the day, he's there to lend you a helping hand."

Tanjiro looks skeptical but then thinks about it. _'That might be true. She's right. It would be better for Nezuko to be in their care.'_

And now, he reached to a moral dilemma. What Tamayo had said made sense. Taking Nezuko off of his hands would give him a sense of security because she's in the care of a demon who is a doctor and a demon with the ability to make an invisibility location, much like this one they're in.

A firm grip of Nezuko's gripping into his hand stopped him from thinking any further. He glanced to see Nezuko with her pure pink eyes staring deep into his magenta orbs. Even if he can't tell what she's thinking or what she's trying to say there using her eyes as to communicate with him, he understood the message clearly by the hand gripping.

He also felt a hand placed on his shoulder and tell that it was BoBoiBoy, casting one of his smiles at Tanjiro. Like Tamayo had mentioned, BoBoiBoy was always there for Tanjiro even if he doesn't even needed it. Since the death of Tanjiro's family, he has Nezuko and BoBoiBoy as the only ones left in his life. The two shared a mutual friendship they had these two years, and were almost inseparable.

He couldn't ask for a better friend than BoBoiBoy.

"Miss Tamayo, thank you so much for your concern." Tanjiro bowed down slightly. "But... Nezuko and I are staying together. We're not going to live apart from each other. Never again."

The images of his family popped up on his mind. A reminder that leaving your family will lead to an unforeseen circumstance. Tanjiro made a vow to himself that he'll never leave anyone closest to him, ever again.

"Very well." Tamayo respected his decision. "In that case, I wish you two a long-lasting good fortune in battle."

Yushiro crossed his arms and faced away. "All right. We'll be leaving after we erase all traces of ourselves. You two get going now!"

"Right!, Okay, Miss Tamayo, Yushiro, we wish you well!" Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy bowed down to show their respect.

"Let's go, Nezuko."

Nezuko turned around and ran up the stairs like a child. "Hey! Don't go rushing off like that!"

"Well, it's gonna be a long day ahead of us." BoBoiBoy grinned a happy grin when he sees Nezuko running off. He was about to go up the stairs when Yushiro stopped them.

"Tanjiro!" Yushiro looks hesitated to say something and turned to the side while facing away from their gazes.

"Your kid sister... is a beauty."

Tanjiro chuckles at him that Yushiro finally acknowledges Nezuko as a beautiful demon. Meanwhile BoBoiBoy, just beamed a smile hurling in his way.

"Hey Yushiro, are we cool now?"

He heard Yushiro sigh and slowly nodded his head, and finally faced him.

"Yeah, we're cool."

BoBoiBoy's smile just got wider. After climbing up the stairs, he heard something.

***BEEP* *BEEP***

He stopped for a moment to register what he heard.

_'There's that sound again! That beeping noise! I know it sounds familiar! I know it!'_

He can't recall when he heard the familiarize beeping sound. Because of his isolation in this world, he is slowly forgetting the remnants of his past. He shook his head and shrugged it off as a part of his imagination or something.

The gut feeling in him says otherwise.

The next scene changes into them walking down the path that is leading to their next destination. Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow cawed in the air for his next coordinates and BoBoiBoy's sparrow, **Suzume**, tweeted him the same coordinates as Tanjiro's.

"South-southeast, huh? Sure thing but can we take a break first?" BoBoiBoy said in a tired tone and Suzume lightly pecked him on the cheek.

"Ow... okay okay, geez. Hey Tanjiro, can you please tell your crow to be quiet?" BoBoiBoy complained as he had enough of the continuous caws the crow is emitting.

"Hey! I heard you okay? Please calm down!" The Kasugai Crow flew closer to Tanjiro and flapped its wings at his face. Tanjiro blocked his face with his hands.

"We get it! We get it okay!? Please ca—"

'PLEASE!" A voice boomed its way to them and looked towards the source. They saw a blonde haired boy kneeling down and begging at a young girl in a blue kimono.

"Hold up. I know that voice." BoBoiBoy is curious to know who he just heard.

"Please! Please! Please! Please, marry me! I could die any day, you know! That's why I want you to marry me! So please! Please, I'm begging you!" He cried on the disturbed young girl and begged for marriage.

"Wh-What's up with that? What on Earth?" Tanjiro broke a sweat as he sees the scene unfold in front of him.

"That boy..." BoBoiBoy narrowed his eyes on him. He can vaguely recall this boy somewhere until it clicked on his mind.

"Zenitsu...?"

* * *

**Yeet! I'm really excited for the next chapter! Reason why? 'Cus now my boi Zenitsu is gonna be in the picture now!**

**On the downside, I'm still thinking of what dialogue I should input when BoBoiBoy meets Zenitsu for the second time. I just like the thought of having two thunder bois interacting with each other, but I really wanna make this work really well!**

**Look forward to the next chapter! OwO**

**~ s a y o n a r a.**


	12. Tsuzumi Mansion

After leaving Tokyo and the two demons, Tamayo and Yushiro, to leave to hide their traces from the demons, the boys settled off to another location back to the countryside. This gives Tanjiro the same feel again. The city life is just alien to him. BoBoiBoy will definitely missed being there where his familiar surroundings are a sight to his sore eyes.

Yet it cannot be helped. This is their job as Demon Slayers. There is no time to take in their surroundings and have a little bit of sight-seeing. It's a price to pay for BoBoiBoy, considering he still have a long way to go to travel other parts of this country.

And speaking of traveling, another mission has been bestowed upon them. The Demon Slayer Corps are known to bombard their members with sudden missions even when they finished it. There are no types of missions except to save and rescue people, locating missing people, and hence the name, slaying demons. Even if the Demon Slayer Corps isn't recognized by the government, it still continued to do their job for the sake of humanity and the world.

The present brings them to Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy. They stopped to register another Demon Slayer literally kneeling in front of a young girl, looking disturbed and creeped out by this guy's antics. A sparrow hastily flew over to them and landed on BoBoiBoy's palm.

"Huh?" BoBoiBoy listened to the sparrow's chirpings with his keen sense of hearing. He is able to decipher what the bird had said to him, regarding the white traingled-patterned yellow haori boy.

"I'm begging you! There's no one else! You're all that I have!" Zenitsu yelled in the background, sounding desperate.

"Okay. Gotcha." BoBoiBoy nodded and turned to Tanjiro. "We need to get him off her."

"I'm thinking the same thing. C'mon! Let's do something about it!"

The sparrow literally glowed in happiness. They then went over to help the poor girl as she tried to pry Zenitsu off her.

"Please help me! Please marry me! I'm begging—" He got interrupted by Tanjiro yanking him off of her.

"What do you think you're doing right in the middle of the road? Can't you see she wants no part of you?" Tanjiro said, currently mad at him. "And don't go making trouble for your sparrow, either!"

"Yeah! You shouldn't just go up to random girls and asked them to marry you like that!" BoBoiBoy crossed his arms and frowned at him.

Zenitsu recognized these guys and said to them. "Those uniforms! You're those guys from Final Selection!"

"NO ONE I KNOW IS ANYTHING LIKE YOU! I DON'T KNOW YOU!" Tanjiro yelled at him.

Zenitsu gasped with tears still leaking out. "BUT WE MET, REMEMBER?! WE MET, REMEMBER?! YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM! LIKE YOUR MEMORY!"

He glanced a look at BoBoiBoy, giving Zenitsu a neutral and blank look.

"HOW ABOUT YOU!? I KNOW YOU BECAUSE YOU SPOKE TO ME LAST TIME WE MET!"

The wind breezed by as BoBoiBoy didn't utter a word before telling him this.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He had no choice but to pretend he doesn't know Zenitsu just so he can see the look on his face. It sounded pretty wrong but he had a bad day today and needed some mischief in his life.

The reaction Zenitsu gives off is the look of a ghost in pure shock. He knew BoBoiBoy because they've spoken when they first met but now he treats as a stranger now.

_'Now I feel guilty.' _He mentally tried not to chuckle.

There was a slight pause in between them until Tanjiro releases his haori he's holding.

"Okay miss, it's been taken care of." BoBoiBoy smiled at her. "You can head home now without any worries. Let me and my friend here handle him, okay?"

"I will! Thank you very much!" She smiled and bowed at them.

"HEEEEEEY! STAY OUT OF MY WAY! THAT GIRL IS GOING TO MARRY ME! BECAUSE SHE'S IN LOVE WITH ME, ALL RI—"

A slap coming from the girl stopped him from continuing. He spun from the slap he received.

"Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark." BoBoiBoy commented. He watched as she continued to slap Zenitsu multiple times in the head.

"Hey! Ouch! That hurts! Stop it! Stop it! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Zenitsu held on to his head for dear life.

"Aaaahh! Tanjiro!? Help me restrain her!" BoBoiBoy locked her arm using his arms and Tanjiro locked the other one too to prevent her from hitting Zenitsu any further. Zenitsu screamed in pain and overreacted.

"WHEN DID I EVER TELL YOU THAT I LOVED YOU?! YOU WERE CRUMPLED UP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD LOOKING ILL, AND ALL I DID WAS SPEAK TO YOU!"

Zenitsu reacted and stared at her in disbelief. "YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T REACH OUT TO ME OUT OF LOVE BECAUSE YOU WERE WORRIED?!"

She continued. "I ALREADY HAVE A FIANCÉ, SO NOT ON YOUR LIFE! WITH ALL THAT ENERGY, YOU MUST BE FINE NOW, RIGHT?! GOODBYE!"

The boys let her go and she stomped away in annoyance and anger.

"W-Wait, come back! Come..." Zenitsu reached out to her, but she's already long gone.

"Look, cut it out!" Tanjiro tried to calm him down.

"C'mon man. Let her go." BoBoiBoy said in hopes to tame this poor boy.

"Wh-Why'd you both get in my way? This has nothing to do with you two!" Zenitsu frowned at them for their interference. Both of them looked down on him, with a mix of disgust, pity, and disappointment in one expression.

"WHAT'S WITH THOSE LOOKS ON YOUR FACES?! STOP THAT! WHY ARE BOTH OF YOU STARING AT ME LIKE I'M A CREATURE OR SOMETHING?!"

He pointed at them. "HEY! BOTH OF YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! SINCE YOU'RE BOTH AT FAULT THAT I MISSED OUT ON GETTING MARRIED!"

Neither of them have a say in this because of how pathetic he must have sounded there. They have never met someone who is as obnoxious as Zenitsu. Their looks intensified.

"JEEZ, SAY SOMETHING!" Zenitsu tried to break the silent treatment they're giving him.

"Uhh... Why were you doing that thing you just did earlier?" BoBoiBoy wants to clarify one thing from him.

"OH NOW YOU DECIDED TO TALK!" Zenitsu shouted, which caused BoBoiBoy to cover his eyes.

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" BoBoiBoy shakes his head. "But seriously, why'd you do that?"

Zenitsu firmly stared at them albeit with tears leaking out of his eyelids. "Listen up! I'm going to die soon! During my next job! The thing is, I'm horribly weak, okay?! I'm not kidding! You two gotta protect me until I manage to get married, all right?!"

"We're not your bodyguards nor we can't guarantee to protect you but you can come with us if you want to." BoBoiBoy offered him a chance.

"I guess he can come. But I'm not comfortable with him constantly yelling in our faces." He whispered to BoBoiBoy.

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" Zenitsu, despite Tanjiro's whispering, managed to hear him.

"Yeah, but, I still think it's fair if we give him a chance." BoBoiBoy said to Tanjiro. Tanjiro momentarily sighed before he placed his hand on his chest.

"My name is Tanjiro Kamado!" He introduced himself.

"Is that right?! My apologies!" Zenitsu said.

"I'm sure you already know me but I'm BoBoiBoy if you hadn't forgotten my name." He pointed his thumb to himself and grinned.

"Of course! I remember you clear as day!" Zenitsu skidded forward to them.

"I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma! Please save me, Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy!" He introduced then pleaded.

"What do you mean, save you?" Tanjiro grabbed his shoulders. "What was your reason for becoming a swordsman, Zenitsu? Why are you being so blatantly shameless?"

"That's a harsh way to put it!" He remarked.

"Well he's right on one thing. What I wanna know is how you became a Demon Slayer despite your... personality." BoBoiBoy almost hesitated to say the last part on his sentence.

"ALL RIGHT! LISTEN!!" He begins his rant to them. "I GOT SWINDLED BY A WOMAN AND RACKED UP ALL THIS DEBT! THE OLD GEEZER WHO TOOK IT OVER FOR ME WAS A CULTIVATOR! DAY AFTER DAY, I HAD TO GO THROUGH HELLISH TRAINING! IT WAS SO BAD THAT I THOUGHT I'D BE BETTER OFF DEAD! I WAS HOPING I COULD DIE DURING FINAL SELECTION! BUT SINCE I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO SURVIVE, I'M STILL GOING THROUGH HELL EVERY DAY!!"

They don't know how to respond. "Zenitsu, are you all ri—"

"I'M SO SCARED! SCARED! SCARED! SCARED!" Zenitsu bent his body down. "I'M JUST KNOW THAT I'M GONNA GET DEVOURED AND KILLED SOON BY A DEMON! MY BRAINS ARE GONNA GET SUCKED THROUGH MY EARS WHILE I'M STILL ALIVE!!"

"Hey Zenitsu! If you could just calm down for a se—"

His screaming cut him off. "NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! PLEASE SAVE MEEEEEEEEE!!!"

After he's done with his rant, he got into his knees while holding his cheeks and shivering with great fear.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" Tanjiro meet his height level and asked him. Zenitsu is still breathing in and out.

"Hm..." BoBoiBoy mused at this unfortunate boy. His cowardice is attacking him in many ways. He can tell that he is incapable of making people believe in him. To help him relieve him some of his worries, BoBoiBoy crouched down in front of him.

"BoBoiBoy, what are you—" BoBoiBoy held up a hand towards him.

"I got this." He grinned. "Listen, Zenitsu, even if you are weak, which I believe you're not, you can still prove it to us for not being one by going with us. Besides, we are in need of new companions anyway since the mission we're going is gonna be a dangerous one."

Zenitsu stared at him with wide eyes. BoBoiBoy landed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be afraid. Just know that Tanjiro and I are gonna be with you until you can stand on your own two feet, when that time comes, I'm sure of it."

He gave him a warm smile. "So what do you say? Are you on board with us or— huh?"

A heavily teary-eyed Zenitsu leaped from his spot and bear hugged BoBoiBoy. It was hardly the first time that Zenitsu had someone that believed in him, despite his obnoxious and coward nature.

"WAAAHHHH! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! EVER SINCE WE MET AT FINAL SELECTION, I KNEW YOU'D ALWAYS BE THIS CONSIDERATE TOWARDS SOMEONE LIKE ME!"

"Tanjiro... aughh... help... can't breathe...!" BoBoiBoy's face turns blue from the lack of oxygen. And the fact that he has a broken rib accelerates the pain that is surging in his torso. Tanjiro aggressively pried Zenitsu off of BoBoiBoy to give him some breathing space. Meanwhile, the Kasugai Crow and the two sparrows are having a friendly chat in their bird language.

* * *

Moving on after the boys' encounter with Zenitsu, they went onwards to their next destination by their fellow birds' orders. Zenitsu, with stray tears on his eyes, seems a little troubled but had calmed down after his outbursts. BoBoiBoy is at his right side in case if he freaks out again.

"How are you?" Tanjiro smiled and gave him a side glance.

"Yeah." Zenitsu replied. "Now that I'm calmer, I'm getting hungry."

"Don't you have any food on you?" Tanjiro asked.

"Nope." He raised his head up.

BoBoiBoy feels bad for the guy and grabbed something from his haori and pulled out a small rice cake he had in store.

"Here, have mine." BoBoiBoy presented him the rice cake.

"Hey, thanks." Zenitsu accepted the offer and took the rice cake. Tanjiro also pulled out his own rice cake and eats it. Zenitsu takes a bite out of the rice cake then sees BoBoiBoy not having his own food out.

"You're not eating, BoBoiBoy?" Zenitsu wondered why.

"Nope. Since I forgot to buy some food, that's all I have left." BoBoiBoy admitted. There weren't many vendors out here in the countryside so it's difficult to spot one. He can always ask someone for food if he's desperate enough.

Zenitsu felt bad for having to eat BoBoiBoy's food even if he's the one that offered him. To repay him, he peeled the half of the rice cake and gave it to him.

"Here. You eat half."

BoBoiBoy happily accepted his generous offer. "Really? Well, thanks!"

The trio are now having their small lunches in peace and not uttering a single word. Silence has wafted around them as they continued walking down the path leading to their next destination.

"So Zenitsu." He mentions the yellow haired boy. "Where is your next mission gonna be."

Zenitsu hummed in thought. "The same way you guys are going."

"Ah! Then that means you'll be doing the mission with us!" He said enthusiastically. Zenitsu is the complete opposite.

"How are you so giddy about this? Aren't you at least a tad bit worried?" Zenitsu wondered.

"Simple, Tanjiro and I went through lots of missions together. Even if it sounds easy, it's never that easy when you do it. But we prevailed, and that says so much of why I'm eager for the next one. Right Tanjiro?" BoBoiBoy asked for the dark redhead's opinion.

"Mhm!" Tanjiro nodded. "What he said. Even if it may seem ugly, we still managed by ourselves pretty fairly."

"And it's easy for you guys, not to me." Zenitsu groaned.

"Hey cheer up, Zenitsu. I know what you are feeling." BoBoiBoy comforted him. "I was like you when I know that demons are out to get me and devour me. But I learn not to let my fear get ahead of me. What you need is a confidence booster."

Zenitsu gasped slightly. "A confidence... booster?"

BoBoiBoy faced him. "Yeah. You just need to think of something positive that motivates you into doing something. Like uhhh... a friend that is there for you.

"Friend..." He mumbled. A word that is semi-unnatural for him. He reflected on when was the last time he ever truly have someone on his side to be called a _friend_. So far, nobody popped up in his mind, except a certain old man.

"Anyways, we know what you mean when you say you're scared of demons." Tanjiro changed the topic.

"Ah that's right! And also, you shouldn't be making trouble for your sparrow either."

"Was it distressed? The sparrow?" Zenitsu glanced at BoBoiBoy. "How can you tell?"

"Well, Ukogi says that you're always whining about not wanting to go to work and you're always hitting on girls, and that you snore so loud, he's had it!"

"Ukogi is the bird's name right?" Tanjiro asked. The other boy nodded it.

"Ukogi says so." He pointed at Zenitsu's sparrow on BoBoiBoy's hand. Ukogi chirped.

Zenitsu, however, took a step backward. "He's saying that? You two can understand bird language?"

They nodded affirmly.

"You're lying, right?! You two are just trying to trick me!" He assumed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Zenitsu! How else can you understand where your next destination is gonna be?!" BoBoiBoy dropped him a fact.

Zenitsu stuttered. "Well, it's... it's... uhh..."

"Hehehe! Awesome!" BoBoiBoy says his signature catchphrase. This made them both confused.

Suddenly, Tanjiro's crow caws in the sky and circled around them. "Start running! Start running! Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, Zenitsu, run! The three of you head over to your next destination! Run! Run, Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, Zenitsu!"

"All right! We get it!" BoBoiBoy yelled at the crow. "Okay, guys, let's g—"

"EEEEYAAAAAAA!!! THAT CROW IS TALKING!!!" Zenitsu rolled on the ground frantically. They sweatdropped at his hilarious antics again.

* * *

They were nearing their destination as they were traversing in a dense forest. The two boys are leading with Zenitsu in tow.

"Hey, guys, on second thought, I'm not gonna make it. Even if I go along, I'm gonna be totally useless."

BoBoiBoy turned his head behind. "C'mon, Zenitsu. Have a little faith in yourself."

"I know but still..." Zenitsu whined. "It's not like I'm gonna be of use for this mission anyway."

"Just keep your head together man. Don't forget what I said earlier." He gave a reminder and he seemed to picked up on it.

"Tanjiro, how much further?" He asked his companion beside him, focused on detecting the demon's scent.

"The demon scent is growing stronger little by little. There's something up ahead." Tanjiro told him what he sensed. Not for long, they spotted a decent-sized building in the middle of an open area outside of the forest.

They stopped right near the entrance, looking at the building.

"I can smell blood. But this particular scent..." Tanjiro said.

"You smell something?" Zenitsu asked confusedly.

"Tanjiro has a keen sense of smell." BoBoiBoy explained.

"Something I've never smelled before."

Zenitsu placed a hand on his ear. "I don't know about that, but do you hear that sound?"

"If you're asking me, then yeah, I do hear it." BoBoiBoy replied as he also placed a hand on his ear. "It sounds so faint..."

"Also, are we gonna work together, after all?" Zenitsu asked.

"Of course not. Teamwork is important." BoBoiBoy said before he looked to his left and spotted two kids huddled up.

"K-Kids..." Zenitsu muttered.

"I wonder what's wrong..." Tanjiro slowly approached the terrified children. "Hey, guys, what are you doing here?"

They tensed up and huddled up closer to each other as they see Tanjiro walking towards them.

"Don't try to spook them, Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy warned him. "Show them Ukogi. That'll calm 'em down."

"Good idea." He bent down on knee. "Okay, wanna see something cool?"

"Ta-da! It's a tame sparrow!" Tanjiro showed off Ukogi to the children.

"And here is Suzume! Pretty cute, isn't he?" BoBoiBoy also showed them his sparrow to the scared children. Suzume and Ukogi bounced up and down on the palms of their hands. Seeing that made them slightly less panicked than they were before and lessen their nerves. They both crouched down on the ground.

"Please tell us. Did something happen?" Tanjiro asked them in a soothing tone.

"Is this your house?" BoBoiBoy asked.

"No. No, it's not. This... This is... A-A monster's... house!" The young boy told them in a scared tone.

"Our big brother got taken away. When we were walking down the road at night, the monster we'd never seen before showed up. It didn't give us a glance. Just our brother."

"And they both went inside that house, right?" Tanjiro asked.

"Yeah. Yeah."

"And you two followed them here? That's so brave of you! Great job!" BoBoiBoy praised for their bravery to follow their brother despite the fear in them.

"We followed the traces of his blood. Because he got hurt!" The younger brother said while the younger sister cried.

_'Hurt, huh... that demon...!' _BoBoiBoy balled his hand into a fist.

"Don't worry! We're going to defeat the bad guy and rescue your brother!" BoBoiBoy instill them with hope.

"Really? You really will?" She asked with a surprise tone.

"Yeah. For sure!" Tanjiro said and they both stood up.

"Guys..." Zenitsu called for them. "Hey, what is this sound? This creepy sound never stops. Is it a tsuzumi?"

"A sound?" BoBoiBoy placed back his hand on his ear again and focused on what Zenitsu hears. He definitely heard what Zenitsu described and hears the sound of a beating drum. It sounded light but the more he concentrated, he louder it sounded.

"He's right. An instrument is playing right now." BoBoiBoy described what he hears.

"Really?" Tanjiro said. The other nodded.

The sounds became clear and loud now. It came from an open door on the second floor of the house. The beats became consecutively louder until an unknown man covered entirely in blood launched out of that said door. They looked on with shocked expressions. The man covered in blood crashed on the ground.

The children screamed at the sight they saw.

"Don't look!" BoBoiBoy covered their view while Tanjiro rushed to the man. Zenitsu stood still, frozen in fear.

"Are you all right?!" Tanjiro crouched and grabbed him and supported him up. "Are you all right?! Stay with me!"

BoBoiBoy tried to not let the children see the gorey sight in front of them. "Hey, guys. It's gonna be all right. Tanjiro is gonna take care of him."

"Are you sure? But he's... he's..." The younger brother stuttered.

"Is he by chance... your brother...?" BoBoiBoy hated to say this but he wanted to confirm if that's the person they were looking for.

Fortunately for him, the younger brother shook his head. "N-No... he's not our big brother. He wears a persimmon-coloured kimono."

"I see." He made sure to keep note of that when Tanjiro is done with the dying man.

"Even though... I got out... Even though I made it out... Made it outside. Still... Am I gonna die? Am I still gonna die?" Were his last final words as he finally succumbed to his fatal wounds. Unable to withstand the feeling, Tanjiro hugged him for an act of giving the man a peaceful death.

"Tanjiro..." BoBoiBoy's heart felt touched and pang with sadness. He even felt mournful for the unknown man. He couldn't even imagine the torture and suffering he must've went through to get out of the house.

Before Zenitsu can utter a word, the demon inside the house roared loudly and made Zenitsu shivering down to his spine and terrified the children. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy were unaffected and were determined to avenge this man's death.

"Tanjiro... This man is not their brother." BoBoiBoy walked over to him. "They told me that he wears a persimmon-coloured kimono."

"I see. So it's captured more than one person." Tanjiro gently put the man down on the ground and prayed for him.

"We'll bury him once we're done with this." BoBoiBoy affixed a look on the man and bent down to close the man's eyes.

"Rest in peace. You will never have to suffer any more pain. You're free." A look of sympathy plastered on his face. In just a matter of three weeks that BoBoiBoy experienced enough death in his life. For not more than two years of his time in this new world, it changed him. It changed his outlook on life that it's never easy. They were never easy to begin with.

"All right, BoBoiBoy, Zenitsu, come on!"

BoBoiBoy had a grim look on his face but was replaced by a confident expression. Zenitsu, on the other hand, shook his head multiple times as a look of fear is plastered on his face.

"But no one else can help them now but you, BoBoiBoy, and me." Tanjiro said.

"Really, Zenitsu? You're just gonna wuss out on us? Where's your honor as a Demon Slayer?" BoBoiBoy tried to input some encouraging words to Zenitsu. None of them reached him as he kept still and shivering.

"**Really? All right, then.**" Tanjiro hung his head low and foreshadowed his facial expression.

"**If that's what you want, Zenitsu.**" BoBoiBoy did the same expression as well.

Zenitsu saw those serious looks on their faces and overreacted. He latched on to Tanjiro's box.

"HEY, COME ON! WHY ARE YOU TWO MAKING THOSE OGRE FACES AT ME?! OKAY, I'LL GO!" His voice practically cracked.

"**I have no intention of forcing you to.**" Tanjiro said with a cartoon-y red angry eye and in a cold tone.

"**Neither do I.**" BoBoiBoy also said with shadows overlapping his face.

"I SAID I'LL GOOOOO!" Zenitsu said literally dragging himself by Tanjiro's box. Speaking of said box, he placed it in front of the children.

"In case of emergency, I'm leaving this box behind. Even if something happens, you two will be protected."

_'Uhmm... sunlight is still up. Is it really wise to leave this box with Nezuko inside here...?' _He felt something is wrong but he chose to trust Tanjiro in this.

"Okay, we're going now." They begin to walk towards the house. Determined faces plastered while the other one is that of a crying child. They opened the sliding door and stepped inside the house's interior. What they enter is the way inside of the house and not actually inside. A swaying light is guiding their vision to their next corner.

Sounds of footsteps and whimpers from Zenitsu can be heard.

"Guys! Hey, guys! You'll both protect me, right? You'll both protect me, right?" Zenitsu asked shakily.

They both stopped. "Zenitsu, we hate to put you on the spot, but..."

"Well, the thing is, Tanjiro and I have a broken rib and a broken from our previous battle with a demon." BoBoiBoy directly said it.

"Yeah, and neither are fully healed yet. So—"

Zenitsu, once again, overreacted. "HUH?? HUH?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, BROKEN BONES?! DON'T GO BREAKING ANY BONES ON ME!! IF YOU'VE GOT FRACTURES, BOTH OF YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY PROTECT ME!! I-I-I'M GONNA DIE!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?! I'M GONNA DIE NOW!! GONNA DIE, GONNA DIE, GONNA DIE!!!"

He followed up with a scream.

"Zenitsu, really!? It's only a few broke bones! We'll be fine!" BoBoiBoy tried to shut him up.

"BROKEN BONES?! HOW COULD YOU?! I'M A DEAD MAN NOW! 99.9% DEAD!!! I'M DEAD! I'M DEAD! I'M DEAD!" He fell on the ground and flailed his legs.

"Zenitsu, quiet down! You'll be all right!" Tanjiro tried to calm him down.

"DON'T SUGARCOAT IT!!!"

_'This guy! He's really at it again!' _BoBoiBoy couldn't help but to facepalm and sweatdropped. Despite the screaming, he heard frantic footsteps running towards them.

"What are you two doing here?!" BoBoiBoy screamed, which caused Zenitsu to scream as well.

"You shouldn't be here!" Tanjiro shouted at the younger siblings.

"M-Mister, we heard scratching sounds from inside that box!" The boy stated.

"E-Even still, it pains me that you left it behind! I mean it's more precious to me than my own life!" Tanjiro said and grabbed the younger sister's shoulders.

"I can go back there if you want to, Tanjiro. I'll keep an eye out on the kids as well." BoBoiBoy suggested before using his breathing technique.

"**Elemental Breathing... Second Form... Duo Split!**" He splitted once again into two BoBoiBoys. BoBoiBoy Earth and BoBoiBoy Lightning are now in the picture. The ones that haven't seen the change were left speechless, expressions of shock, stun, and surprise.

The most noticable is Zenitsu, eyes almost bulged out of his eye sockets and almost fainted. He was about to scream again if it weren't for Lightning covering his hand.

"I'll explain later what just happened but for now, keep your damn voice down for just one second!" Lightning casted a serious glare on him and Zenitsu is silenced by that.

"C'mon guys, I'll take you back outs—"

They were startled by a random shaking of the house that started. Zenitsu slowly glanced up then screamed and pushed BoBoiBoy Earth, Tanjiro, and the younger sister in another room.

"Sorry! My butt..." Zenitsu apologized then the room suddenly changed by the sound of a tsuzumi, revealing another room.

"What's this?" Earth gasped as he and Tanjiro are looking at the room repeatedly changing in an instant. It stopped changing and found themselves in a large room.

_'It's a different room. No. Were we the ones that moved? To the beat of the tsuzumi?' _Tanjiro thought when he looked around the room they're in.

_'We got separated from Zenitsu and the others. But I can still trace their sound pattern.' _Earth thought.

The young girl kept crying in front of Tanjiro. "Sorry you got separated from your brother, okay? But we're gonna protect you no matter what."

Earth patted the girl on the shoulder. "And Zenitsu and my other self is gonna protect your brother. Don't worry! What's your name?"

"Teruko."

"Is that right? Teruko? That's a fine name you have—" He picked up a scent not too far from him. Earth heard heavy footsteps stepping on the dark hallway. Teruko gasped but Earth covered her mouth before she can scream.

_'From what it sounds, this one is the source of the tsuzumi thing. That demon is the one! He devoured a whole slew of humans! From the looks of it, this one is definitely this house's master!'_

* * *

"I'M GONNA DIE!!!" Zenitsu's scream filled around the hallway they were in. "GONNA DIE, GONNA DIE, GONNA DIE, I'M TELLING YOU!! TANJIRO AND I GOT SPLIT UP!!"

"You literally forget that I'm here..." Lightning sighed.

"Teruko! Teruko!" The younger boy searched for his sister.

"No, no, no, no!" Zenitsu clinged onto him. "Don't yell like that! If you yell and the bad guy hears you, it won't be pretty!"

Lightning, with a massive tick mark on his head, gazed at Zenitsu. "Like you're one to talk here!"

"Come on, let's step outside!" His cries are clearly visible.

"What..." He stared at him in disbelief. "Why outside? Are you trying to escape all by yourself?"

Zenitsu was taken aback.

"All this yammering about dying... Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Zenitsu is in shock, he let him go.

"Clinging onto a younger person... Don't you feel pathetic?"

Zenitsu felt a stab in his chest.

"What are you wearing that sword on your hip for anyway?"

That made the final hit on Zenitsu as blood spewed out his mouth and laid on the ground. "Those words cut so deep."

Lightning whistled. "This kid ain't messing around. Hey kid, what's your name?"

He turned to face the other BoBoiBoy. "Shoichi."

He patted him on the head. "Well Shoichi, you sure gave our friend here a smooth flattering. And don't worry, we'll find my friend and your sister too."

"THAT'S NOT IT!" Zenitsu suddenly stood up, grabbed their haoris, and made their way to the entrance. "I'M NOT GONNA BE OF USE ANYWAY! SO I'M GONNA SUMMON A GROWNUP HERE, OKAY?!"

"HEY! LET US GO!" Lightning growled.

"BECAUSE THIS ISN'T SOMETHING US KIDS CAN'T RESOLVE ON OUR OWN!" Zenitsu closed in on the door.

"I don't know why I'm in this guy's side..." Lightning felt his luck leaving him. When Zenitsu slid open the sliding door, it didn't lead to the outside but a whole different room.

"How is this possible?!" Lightning looked around and there wasn't any sign for the exit.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME, KIDDING ME, KIDDING ME! I'M SURE THIS WAS THE FRONT DOOR!"

"I won't lie but this was the front door! Something had changed." Lightning hummed in thought.

"Where'd the outside go?! I mean, this door was..." Zenitsu looked both ways then opened multiple random doors.

"Is it this one?! How about this one?! What about this one?!" The last sliding door opened to reveal a person with a boar mask standing while his back is turned.

"That guy looks familiar..." Lightning stared at the guy with the mask. He must've sworn he seen him before but couldn't recall where. The boar person releases smoke out of his nose while turning his head to Zenitsu and the others.

"IT'S A MONSTER!!!!!" Zenitsu let out his infamous screaming. The boar leapt from his spot, causing Zenitsu to scream again, leapt across the room and speeding off in the hallway.

Both Lightning and Shoichi saw the commotion Zenitsu made and looked down on him blankly.

"What the heck?! What're those looks in your eyes?! Stop looking at me like that!"

How many times is Lightning going to sigh at this person's idiotic screams.

"Zenitsu... just shut up and let's go."

* * *

Returning to Tanjiro's position, Teruko is trying really hard not to scream even with her mouth covered by Earth's hand.

"If it hadn't been... If it hadn't been for their meddling..." The tsuzumi demon said, still facing the way forward.

"Teruko, you gotta try not to scream." Earth said quietly at Teruko.

"The room's going to flip around, so don't go into the hall." Tanjiro whispered. "Step back and hide behind the shelves."

She did as she was told and quietly tip-toed behind them for cover.

"Curses, curses! Thanks to them, he got away! When he was my prey! Why is it? Why do they all keep barging into someone else's home? It's infuriating! That was my prey! My own prey, discovered on my own turf!"

They both unsheathed their swords quietly.

"Hey Tanjiro, do you think we can handle this demon? Don't forget that we have broken bones." Earth quietly said to Tanjiro.

"Curse them! Curse them!" The demon angrily muttered.

"Hey! Listen!" Tanjiro shouted. "I'm with the Demon Slayer Corp. Rank 10, Tanjiro Kamado! I'm going to slay you now!"

Earth glanced at Tanjiro. "Are you serious?! Do you really have to announce our presence to him?!"

"Two children with rare blood that I found myself!" The demon mumbled. Tanjiro took the initiative and sprang forward to slash off the demon's neck.

_'Wait... the demon isn't moving?' _He realized something was wrong and tried to reach Tanjiro but it was too late. The demon beat the tsuzumi on his right shoulder and the room flipped to the left. Teruko fell but Earth was there to catch her.

"Are you all right, Teruko?" Earth cooed at her and she nodded slowly. He grinned at her before donning a serious look and looked around the room again.

_'The floors are now on the sides! It's because he beat the tsuzumi, the room flipped! So, that's his **Blood Demon Art!** This entire house is this demon's territory and his advantage!'_

Earth then swerved his head to meet the close door. _'What's that? I recognize this sound pattern. It's coming this way fast! This isn't a demon's sound, that's for sure!'_

He concentrated on the noise Earth sensed and it's getting closer. He also heard a voice and the person is laughing.

"Comin' through! Comin' through! Comin' through!" He laughed and tackled the door with his bare arms and landed on the floor, with two Nichirin Blades wielded on his hands.

_'Wh-Who's that guy?! He's wearing a boar's hide!' _Tanjiro was surprised at this unexpected encounter and turned to look at his swords. _'And he's wielding Nichirin Swords!'_Earth had the same reaction. _'It's that guy from Final Selection! So, he's alive, after all!'_

"All right, you monster... Die on the battlefield and serve as my springboard! So that I can become more powerful and soar even higher!" He declared and taunted the demon.

"Infuriating! Infuriating!" The demon repeated.

The person in a boar hide stanced. "Here goes... Comin'... through!"

Earth gulped and sweat broke down on his head. He knew what type he is; all brawns and no brains. He demanded every fight to people he came across.

_'This is gonna be difficult now that we have TWO people to worry about!'_

* * *

**I didn't realize this chapter contains 50% of Zenitsu screaming, yet I had fun writing because it's funny!****Also, writing facial expressions are kinda hard for me but I managed only a few ones.****Anyways, see y'all in the next!**

**~ s e e y a a a a**


	13. The Boar Bears Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps

You ever feel the sense of déja vú from the sight of a person you most seemingly forget? Even if it may seem like it's only a week ago? Everyone probably had one of those moments when they seem like they haven't. Earth thought of it the same.

The boy with a boar's hide for a mask, named **Inosuke Hashibira**. Anyone could have mistaken him as a demon if it weren't for him holding the **Nichirin Blades**, most notably wielded among other Demon Slayer swordsmen, unless he stole the swords from somebody else. With his reckless nature, his swords crossed, he stanced at the demon.

"Here goes... Comin'... through!" He lunged at the demon with no plan whatsoever. To ever lunge at the demon is a straightforward tactic for someone as blunt as him.

"Infuriating! Infuriating!" The demon muttered and tapped his tsuzumi. The room flipped again in another rotation, making the place feel like it's upside down. Earth unintentionally let go of Teruko because he lost his balance when the room flipped.

"Teruko! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Earth expressed his great concern to the younger sibling.

"Hold onto the furniture!" Tanjiro recommended before the boar masked boy launched himself off by using Tanjiro as a springboard.

"That one's a demon with supernatural powers! Stop launching those reckless attacks!" Tanjiro attempted to reason with the stubborn boy, yet he didn't listen and continued to laugh.

"You damn insects running amok in my house!" The demon said as he tapped his tsuzumi twice. The room flipped back to its original position. Tanjiro lost his balance and fell roughly on the floor while Earth used his sword to stab on the ceiling and used it to hold onto it after the room rotated. Teruko fell down and was being stepped on by the boy in the boar mask.

Inosuke laughed maniacally. "The room freakin' spun around! This is fun! This is fun!"

"Teruko!" Earth gasped and released his sword off the ceiling and descended down to meet Inosuke and removed his foot off of her harshly and threw his foot in the air. "Don't stomp all over her!"

"Teruko, are you alright?" Earth gently patted her on the back as she sniffed and cried softly.

"Earth, how's Teruko?!" Tanjiro asked Earth, not leaving his position.

"She's fine." Earth responded before glaring at the boy.

"Who the hell are you?" Inosuke asked with uncertainty.

"What do you think you're doing, stepping on a little kid like that?!" Earth almost exclaimed at this guy. He thought he was all just brawns, but he's actually way worse than that.

"I like it! I like it!" He just laughed it off. "No human's ever sent me flying like that before!"

_'What's his deal?!' _Earth detected a dangerous sound from him and jumped backwards as the boy almost slashed him along with Teruko.

"Earth!" Tanjiro left his post and stood in front of Earth and Teruko and pointed his sword on the boy instead.

"Why is he coming after us now? Isn't he a Demon Slayer as well?" Earth said as his eyes never left the boar masked boy.

"My swords will hurt you. Because they're not the kind of swords you little gentlemen use!" Inosuke adjusted his swords. "The way they shred through flesh... That's what I pride myself on!"

Tanjiro put up a strong front. "Knock it off! There's a demon right there, you know!"

"He's right! Point your swords at the demon! Not us!" Earth wanted Inosuke to redirect his hostility towards the demon.

"Like I care!" Inosuke didn't heed their pleas and lunged at them. Tanjiro blocked both of his swords using his sword and both of them struggles to see who will overpower them.

"Damn insects! Out of my sight! Die!" The demon tappes his tsuzumi on his stomach area. It unleashes a three-clawed attack at them and they all gotten out of the way.

"The floor ripped apart all of a sudden! At the same speed as the sound of the tsuzumi! In the shape of a beast's claws!" Earth described what happened. Soon, the demon tapped the tsuzumi again in the stomach and let's out another claw attack on Inosuke, who dodged out of the way, then tapped the tsuzumi on his right shoulder.

"That spins right!" Earth positioned himself before the room flipped to the right while holding Teruko very carefully. The room rotated to the left after being rotated to the right by tapping on his tsuzumi located on the demon's left shoulder.

"Now left!" Earth pinpoints on how it was rotated based on the tsuzumi's sound pattern.

"Damn insects!" The demon tapped the left tsuzumi. "You damn miserable insects!" Then he tapped on the stomach region. Inosuke fell down into an empty hallway when the room spun around again. Tanjiro, Earth, and Teruko made it safely to a surface.

"Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Earth said to Tanjiro. "I know the demon's pattern now! It should be fairly easy to determine what sound the tsuzumi he will tap into!"

Tanjiro nodded his head after he heard it. "That's great! I've gotten the hang of it too! Together, we'll beat that demon using this advantage!"

The demon murmured something before they were transported to another room. However, it wasn't the demon that tappee the tsuzumi this time.

"We're in another room?" Earth had his mouth wide agape.

"But I didn't hear the sound of the tsuzumi being hit by the demon." Tanjiro stated.

"No. This is something. There's another tsuzumi being struck, and this doesn't belong to the demon." Earth picked up another sound with his enhanced hearing.

"Then does this that there is another demon with a tsuzumi, then?" Tanjiro asked. Earth shook his head.

"I don't think so. It wouldn't be right. If there was another demon with a tsuzumi, then this house will be disoriented and unbalanced with its constant changes."

_'I'm picking up different noises coming from the inside of this house. More demons are lurking here. This isn't good. I just Lightning and the others are okay, wherever they are.' _Earth thought. He almost forgotten about Teruko as he is still holding on to her protectively.

"Hey Teruko, how are you holding up? Are you all right?" Earth gently asked the poor girl. Teruko is still spooked earlier from the huge demon and being stomped on by Inosuke. A nod is what he received from Teruko.

"That's good. Now, stick with us and Tanjiro. We'll be finding the others soon. So don't worry." He flashed a comforting smile at the girl. She ceased her worries a bit from that smile and closely sided up with Earth.

"There. Follow me." Tanjiro pointed at the sliding door that leads to the hallway. He looked both ways until he spotted a dead carcass on the middle of the hallway. Tanjiro couldn't bear to look at the human remains and looked elsewhere.

"What's wrong, Tanjiro?" Earth noticed Tanjiro's head swerve. Tanjiro turned around and reassured them.

"No, it's nothing." He got closer to Earth and whispered something in his ear. "You musn't let Teruko see the dead body at the end of the hallway."

Earth gasped slightly before he nods his head. "C'mon Teruko. Let's go. It's all right. There are no demons around."

Tanjiro followed up. "Yeah. Now come on. Let's head over there."

Earth guided Teruko to the left route of the hallway. Curious enough, he slowly looked behind him and noticed what Tanjiro saw; a devoured human. This almost turned in his stomach if he hadn't turned around again.

"Without a backward glance. Look straight ahead, okay?" Tanjiro leads the way. As he is leading the way, Tanjiro sniffed and caught another scent which stands out than the rest of the scents he smelled.

"What did you find?" Earth asked after he heard Tanjiro sniffing.

"A unique scent of blood." He answered. "Looks like there wasn't that much bleeding."

Earth used his hearing sense to make sure it wasn't a demon or some kind. Thankfully, it wasn't a demon's sound and he felt relieved to know that. Earth halted Teruko with his hand and made a whispering gesture at her. Earth had his hand on the grip of his sword with Tanjiro opening the door. They spotted a boy holding what looks like a tsuzumi and is startled of the sudden entry. His hand was ready to hit the tsuzumi and it's nearing closer to being struck.

* * *

Ragged breathes and whimpers of fear escape from Zenitsu with Shoichi holding Lightning's hand for escort. They've been going around the house for quite a while in search of Tanjiro and the other two after they were being separated by the house's constant room changing.

_'This guy... I swear... even Gopal can handle something like this if he's just a little bit brave enough, that is.' _Lightning thought, sweat dripping down his forehead from the pain he's enduring. The broken bones are starting to get to him. Even with enough rest, he would still feel the surge of pain.

"Mister, is that guy, okay...?" He heard Shoichi from behind. "I mean, the sounds he's making are also making me feel nervous..."

"Hmm... I'll handle it, Shoichi. Stick close to me." Lightning patted him on the hand.

"Excuse me, Zenitsu, but you—"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He let out a high-pitched scream because of him being startled. Lightning backed off almost an inch away from him before he looked behind and attempted to roar what's behind Zenitsu.

"OOOOAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!" He failed to make a scary face, which came out as a creepy one.

"What the hell...?" Lightning is questioning what is going in Zenitsu's head. The latter sprang and latched on Lightning out of fear.

"Signal... Signal... Signal... Signal me first!" Zenitsu shakily said with shaky teeth as well. "If you want to talk, don't come at me all of a sudden! My heart nearly flew out of my mouth just now!"

"S-Sorry..." He didn't sound apologetic. Just a bit weirded out and annoyed by him. Veins are almost appearing out of Lightning's face.

"If that had come to pass, that would've made you a murderer for sure! Do you get that?!" Zenitsu pinned the blame of him getting scared on Lightning.

"Zenitsu... listen." Lightning's patience is truly being tested by Zenitsu. "You've been sweating, gasping and shivering so horribly. It's really getting on my nerves..."

"WHAT ABOUT IT?! AREN'T I DOING THE BEST I CAN HERE?!"

This had now made him blew a fuse.

"YOUR BEST, HUH?! LOOK WHERE YOUR BEST GOT US INTO IT! WE'VE BEEN WALKING AROUND IN CIRCLES AND MAKING SHOICHI NERVOUS HERE!" Lightning, enraged, exclaimed with blank white eyes.

"OH NO! SORRY ABOUT THAT!" Zenitsu apologized loudly. "Even still... Even still... If we talk too much, those demons and all will... They might find us, right?!"

Lightning smacked his head. "Of course they will, you dunce idiot! Just stay quiet and let's get a move on!"

"R-Right! I think it would be best to be as quiet as possible! Right?!" Zenitsu still shouted.

"You're such a moron..." Lightning wanted to smack his own head against the wall, but he will hold off on that with the broken bones he still had on his body.

Due to the commotion the two caused, a demon emerged from under the house's sill. Shoichi made a scared face when he looked at the demon and Lightning and Zenitsu followed up.

"A couple of kids. Probably most agreeable to the tongue." The demon said in a perverted tone with his tongue out and glanced up to them.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?! A DEMON SHOWED UP! A DEMON SHOWED UP, UNDERSTAND?!" Zenitsu screamed and earns him another smack from Lightning.

"Stay back! I'll take care of the— ACKK!" Lightning winced from the pain he received from the broken rib. He got down on one knee and struggled to get up.

_'Dammit! Not now, not now! Of the times when my broken bones takes effect!'_ He felt himself getting up by Zenitsu grabbing a firm hold of his haori and ran away as fast as possible from the demon.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM US! STOP THAAAAAAATTTT!" Zenitsu screamed at the top of his lungs while running away from the demon. Shoichi ran beside him and Lightning gathered enough strength in his legs and ran too.

"W-W-WE DON'T TASTE GOOD! I'M SURE I TASTE AWFUL! I'M SERIOUS, OKAY?! THIS KID'S ALL SKIN AND BONES, SO HE'S ALL DRY AND TASTES GHASTLY! ALSO, THIS GUY, HIS BONES ARE BROKEN! SO IT DOESN'T APPEAL TO YOUR TASTES EITHER!"

Lightning glared at Zenitsu. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING THAT FOR?!"

"TO TRY AND SAVE ALL OF US, OBVIOUSLY!"

The demon chuckled while catching up to them quickly by simply crawling. "How will I know until I have a taste?" He extended his tongue at them to ensnare one of them.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Zenitsu almost got caught by the tongue if it weren't for Lightning pulling him to the right. The tongue hit the vase and split it in half.

"WHAT WAS THAT?! QUICK-TONGUED! SPLITTING A VASE IN TWO!" Zenitsu exclaimed. The demon proceeded to do another tongue attack.

"Look out!" Lightning pushed them out of the way and they crashed into another room, breaking down the doors whilst doing so. Lightning let out a painful yell as he felt one of his ribs break.

"Zenitsu! BoBoiBoy! Get up!" Shoichi shook them both. Lightning breathed heavily from how much pain he suffered from the broken rib and leg and made no attempt to get up.

"It's in my knees now! 80 percent of my fear is in my knees!" Zenitsu whined.

"This is no time to whine, all right?!" Shoichi tries to convince Zenitsu to stop and get a grip.

"Listen to the kid, Zenitsu! Use your sword already!" Lightning yelled and slowly stood up.

"Just leave me behind, okay?! Make a run for it!" Zenitsu shakily told them to leave him behind for them to escape.

"We can't do something like that!" Shoichi denied.

"He's right! We're not leaving you behind!" Lightning clenched his fists.

Zenitsu had tears in his eyes for how much they don't want him to be left behind for the demon. _'What great people they are! Even though I'm making terrified sounds like this! I gotta find a way somehow! If _**_BoBoiBoy _**_can't protect Shoichi due to his condition or if I can't protect both of them, what will become of them? Dying before Shoichi reaches double digits would be way too tragic!'_

_'But I'm so horribly weak! I don't have the ability to protect them! But if I don't protect them…"_

"Get up!" Shoichi still shook Zenitsu on his shoulders. Zenitsu is still feeling hesitant. Feeling like Zenitsu isn't the option for Shoichi right now; he turned towards Lightning that had gotten up but with a look of grimace on his face.

"BoBoiBoy! Please! Do something about Zenitsu!" He begged for the lightning Demon Slayer.

Lightning gritted his teeth. "I'm trying! My bones are the problem for me here!" He wobbly went over to Zenitsu and crouched down to meet his height.

"Zenitsu… you gotta… draw out your sword… and prepare to attack the demon…" With Lightning's condition currently fractured from his additional broken ribs, their only hope and chance they've got left is Zenitsu Agatsuma. The blonde is still shaking; his eyes met Lightning's yellow orbs staring back at him.

"Do you still remember… what I said back at the fields?" Lightning reminded him. "Don't let your fear control you. Resist it and try to make a stand! C'mon Zenitsu! You're the only one here we can depend on!"

Those reinstate Zenitsu as he tried to get up and put on a confident face, with little bits of fear in between them.

"Y-You're right! I… I gotta do something…! I don't want to let you down…!" Zenitsu finally has his hand on the grip of the sword. Lightning almost smirked but faltered when he spotted the demon crawling up to them slowly.

"I'm gonna guzzle your brain matter through your ears!" The demon formed a creepy posture by having his head bent and letting his ridiculously long tongue swaying outside.

The confident Zenitsu, having his fear meter exceeded up to the max, lost consciousness and fainted at the sounds of that. He slowly fell down and falls asleep in front of Lightning and Shoichi.

"Zzz… Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…" Were his snores that emanate the room.

_'I can't believe this… He's… sleeping… at a time like this…!' _Lightning stared at the sleeping boy in disbelief.

"Zenitsu! Zenit—" Shoichi thought Zenitsu had collapsed in fright but he saw his sleeping face and is snoring lightly.

"What's up with him?" The demon got closer. Shoichi and Lightning dragged Zenitsu backwards until they were back against the wall, with no way out of here except the way they busted through. Lightning made his way in front of them and unsheathed his sword.

_'I can't fight the demon like this… But I'll have to try or otherwise, the demon will devour them both!'_ Lightning shakily gripped his sword. He doesn't have enough strength to swing and his vision became blurry. He wobbled a bit and his grip on the blade's handle loosened.

_'I… feel… dizzy…'_ Lightning felt himself getting bound by the tongue's grip. His eyes snapped right open and tried to wiggle himself out of the tongue.

"Nnngghhh! Let me go!" Lightning felt his entire body getting crushed in mere seconds. The strangulation is unbearable for him.

"First, I'll pop open your eyeballs then I'll feast on your insides as my main course!" The demon cackled and continued to strangle Lightning.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ZENITSU! PLEASE WAKE UP! HE'S GONNA BE KILLED!" Shoichi screamed for Zenitsu to wake up. Zenitsu's face foreshadowed by his bangs and his hand that didn't move for a bit twitched. Lightning yelled in extreme pain until he felt himself plopping down and he fell backwards.

_'I'm… free…? But how…?'_ His curiosity went over to Zenitsu that seemingly stood up. His eyes scanned at Zenitsu, his face not showing by his bangs and not uttering a single word and is most noticeably sleeping. Shoichi went over to Lightning and hastily dragged him back to a wall.

"Shoichi… *cough*… what happened…?" Lightning coughed up blood and asked the crying boy.

"He… He sliced… the tongue…" Shoichi described and that cause Lightning to widen his eyes. When he looked back at Zenitsu, he bent his body forward and stanced; his left foot sliding to the back and had his hand on the sword's handle. Zenitsu also breathed out smoke that went out of his teeth.

_'This sound… Zenitsu… you are about to unleash a **Breathing Technique**, aren't you?!'_ Lightning thought after hearing this particular breathing pattern. It is almost identical as Lightning's own breathing.

"Zenitsu…" Shoichi muttered, watching him closely with stray tears left in his eyes.

All of them watched Zenitsu as he clicks the hilt of his sword, partially revealing a golden colour.

"**Thunder Breathing, First Form, Thunderclap and Flash**." Zenitsu said in a very serious tone. He then unleashed his ability by charging at the demon in a flash of thunder, making a loud thunderous roar and leaving smoke trails that spread everywhere now. Zenitsu made quick work to the demon by precisely slicing off the demon's head with a perfect slash, without seeing him drawing out his sword. The demon spurted out so much blood and fell backwards and the head fell down near Zenitsu.

"What… what power…!" Lightning's breath escaped his mouth. He had witnessed the true power hiding behind Zenitsu's persona. An amazing display.

"Who knew you are hiding such power, Zenitsu." He needed to rethink on what to say to Zenitsu after seeing his power in play.

_'I don't want to lie but I think his breathing technique is actually stronger than mine. The sound of that lightning strike packs quite a punch and never struck twice.'_

Zenitsu suddenly jolts awake from his slumber and slowly looked at the ground behind him to see the head of the demon rolling to him until it hit his feet.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! IT'S DEAD! ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT'S DEAD! WHAT THE HELL?! I CAN'T TAKE THIS!"

_'He's not aware that he did that?_' Lightning thought and he and Shoichi stared at Zenitsu in a dumbfounded expression.

"What is this?! What is this?! Yuck!" His whining came to a halt when he saw Lightning, still had his hand on his blade's hilt.

"BoBoiBoy… Don't tell me…" He slowly extended a hand.

"Huh? Zenitsu, it's not—" He received a tight hug from Zenitsu.

"THANK YOU! YOU SAVED MY LIFE! I SHALL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR THIS! I KNEW YOU WOULD PROTECT ME! I JUST KNEW IT!" Zenitsu deluded himself into thinking that it was Lightning that rescued him. When unbeknownst to him, it was Zenitsu that done it.

"Zenitsu, I—"

"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAVE THIS POWERFUL ABILITY YOU DID A WHILE BACK! YOU CLEARLY MADE ME FEEL SAFE WITH YOU AROUND! WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Zenitsu's cries are heard as he continues hugging him. Shoichi watched the whole thing unfold in front of him.

"Uhmm Zenitsu…?!" Lightning called him out, this time even louder.

Zenitsu stopped crying and looked up to him. "Did you say something?

"N-Nothing…" Lightning stole a glance from Shoichi, who looked just as clueless as he is right now. "It's nothing. Never mind. Just forget about it. Let's get a move on, all right?"

They got up from their position. "Okay."

Lightning clearly has something to tell about Zenitsu. From the sounds of it, it seems that he wasn't aware of what just happened. He figured that it was his subconscious that took over and delivered the decisive blow. This isn't the time to stop and chat. They still need to find Tanjiro and the others.

Before they can move out of the room, Lightning clutched on his chest, feeling the pain before and resurfaced. He yelped and almost fell down before getting caught by Shoichi and Zenitsu's arms.

"BoBoiBoy!" Shoichi supported him up.

"What's happening to you?!" Zenitsu asks with deep concern.

"My ribs… it's... painful…" Was the last thing Lightning blurted out before he passes out from his internal injuries.

* * *

The demon inside this house, the master occupant inside here, named **Kyogai, **stomps forward in search of the boys he had encountered, all the while muttering _Marechi _like a chant.

"Marechi... Marechi... If I can just devour some... Fifty. No, a hundred humans' worth..." Kyogai halted his walk and his right eye twitched.

"I gotta search for more humans with Marechi and consume them. That way..." His eyelid revealed to show a label displayed in kanji but crossed out in an X manner.

"...I can reclaim my place among the Twelve Kizuki!" He said as he thought back of what usually happened to his position being removed.

A Lower Moon Six Demon, Kyogai, can be seen devouring the carcass of a human in his own home, not because out of hunger, but for a different cause. Kyogai felt disgusted, eating the dead human being before him. It's not that he's forced to that he has to eat in order to gain strength. This is him trying to prove his worth to Muzan Kibutsuji that he's a demon worth being in the Twelve Kizuki.

"Kyogai." Muzan emerged from nowhere and stood in front of the tsuzumi demon. Kyogai had paused his feasting to glance a look at the supreme demon himself.

"You can't eat any more?" His words came out more of a taunt. "Is that all you've got?"

"No. No, I'm not done!" Kyogai had an encompassing fear dreading on him. But as soon as those words left him, he felt an immense sharp pain on his right eye, where the mark of his position as Lower Moon Six was located before it was crossed out by Muzan.

"P-Please give me more time! J-Just a little!" Kyogai pleaded.

"I've had enough." Veins of anger appeared on Muzan's face. "I'm stripping you of your number. That's your limit, and you've reached it."

_"The more demons you devoured, the stronger you can become. And once he saw my potential, **Master Kibutsuji** was willing to share his blood with me." _Kyogai narrated as an image of Muzan giving a sample of his dripping blood onto Kyogai's hands.

_"The power of that man's blood was mind-boggling. I was sure that I'd grow infinitely stronger than ever before, be welcomed into the ranks of the Twelve Kizuki, continue to gorge myself on humans and become ever more powerful! Or so I believed! Or so I believed..."_

His thoughts ended with a grim event that happened to Kyogai.

"Brother Kiyoshi!" Teruko couldn't hold back when she saw her big brother in front of her and ran her way towards her.

"Brother! Brother!" Her arms eventually reached Kiyoshi's and they caught themselves in an embrace.

"Teruko!" He's relieved to see her again. From behind Teruko, the two Demon Slayers approached them with positive expressions.

"Wh-Who are they?" Kiyoshi said when he spotted them. Earth only waved them kindly.

"I'm Tanjiro Kamado and this is Ear— err... BoBoiBoy." Tanjiro introduced and made sure to reference Earth as BoBoiBoy, lest it would cause both of them confusion. "We've come to defeat evil demons."

Earth crouched down in front of them, mostly to Kiyoshi. "Now then, show us your wounds. Good for you for hanging in there on your own. Great job." He gave him a toothy grin.

Kiyoshi bawled for how much trouble he'd gotten himself into. Teruko looked at him with concern and murmured his name. Earth gave them an empathic look. He feels really sorry for these siblings. And it's only a day this had happened to them.

Tanjiro reached in his haori and pulled out a brown cloth wrapped on a thread. "Noe this ointment here is amazing! My master gave it to me!"

"You had that and didn't tell me about it?" Earth sounded baffled that Tanjiro had that all along and did not bother telling him.

"I thought you had one as well? But I guess this is the only thing he has right now." Tanjiro unwraps the cloth's contents and removes what's inside. Earth volunteered to treat Kiyoshi and put his two fingers on the container filled with ointment and applied it on the wounded part of his leg.

"Our master always wears a goblin mask." Earth described Urokodaki.

"Goblin? Really?" Kiyoshi said.

"Yes, it's true. This ointment BoBoiBoy is applying to you right now is so amazing, it works in a split second." Tanjiro clarified and Earth finished applying and don a clean white cloth to fortify and cover up Kiyoshi's injured leg. He made the finishing touches on it.

"Okay, you should be all set now. Don't apply weight on your leg while you're walking." Earth said and wiped the remaining sweat on his head. "How was it? Do you feel any pain or no?"

"Yes! Thank you so much!" Kiyoshi thanked him for the medication treatment. The feeling of gratitude is soon replaced with a serious vibe.

"Do you think you can tell us what happened here?" Tanjiro asked softly.

Kiyoshi looked spooked for a moment before telling them his side of the story. "A monster dragged me away a-and I nearly got devoured. But just then, another monster showed up out of nowhere, a-and they started fighting to the death over who was gonna get to e-eat me. A-And then, the one with the tsuzumi growing out of him... When the other monster defeated him, he dropped a tsuzumi! And when I picked it up and struck it, this room suddenly changed. And I somehow held on until now!"

He finished it up by crying slightly after almost being near to death's door.

"A demon with a tsuzumi growing out of him..." Tanjiro put a finger on his chin and recalled about a demon with those tsuzumis on his body.

"Sounds like the demon we're fighting earlier. Those tsuzumis growing out of him made it obvious." Earth crossed his arms. "Also, he mentioned the words _Marechi _several times."

Kiyoshi gasped. "That's right! He kept calling me **Marechi**!"

"Strange..." Earth looked thoughtful. "What is a Marechi?"

Out of nowhere, Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow cawed and explained. "What is **Marechi**? It refers to the owner of rare blood!"

All of them were surprised to hear the crow talking, mostly from Teruko and Kiyoshi. Suzume flew and landed on Earth's hands.

"Suzume? You followed me here?"

"Chuu! Chuu chuu chuu!" Suzume chirped while bouncing up and down on his hands. Earth tilted his head.

"O-Okay... if you say so. It's dangerous here, y'know?"

"Chuu chuu chuu!" Suzume protests, like he doesn't want to leave Earth behind.

Tanjiro's crow cawed at the siblings. "You little brats! I'm going to peck you now."

"Cut it out!" Tanjiro picked up his crow and brought him closer. "What do you mean by _rare blood_?"

"The blood of all living species can be categorized into types, idiot!" The crow explained

"Of course. There are several blood types: Type **A**, Type **B**, Type **AB**, and Type **O**. The most common blood type is Type **O** and the rarest blood type is Type **AB**." Earth added his own explanation of blood types. Tanjiro nodded, taking those in his head.

"Oohh! How do you know all of those?"

"Read a book, dummy." Earth laughed as an attempt to joke what he said. He gained this knowledge from reading Tamayo's books as well as from back in 5th Grade in Rintis Island Primary School. Science is his favorite subject.

"He's right about those. And the ultimate Marechi... The more scarce the blood, the more uncommon... For a demon! A single Marechi human has the same nutritional value as eating fifty! One hundred humans! For demons, Marechi is a feast! Marechi is their favorite food!"

The explanation caused the siblings to curl up and hug from the frightful facts the crow spat out.

"Okay, that's enough. You're scaring them." Earth narrows his eyes on the crow. His ears suddenly perked up to hear more heavy sounding footsteps approaching this way to the room the have gone in.

"Tanjiro, it's him again." Earth said. Tanjiro faced to the way they came and clenched his teeth.

"Okay, you and I are leaving this room now." Tanjiro declared, which makes Kiyoshi gasped in fear for the thought of them leaving them defenseless.

"Kiyoshi." Earth noticed his expression and grabbed his shoulders firmly. "Don't worry. It's gonna be all right. Tanjiro and I are gonna take down that demon."

"Listen to me, Teruko." Tanjiro called her calmly. Teruko switched her gaze to his. "Right now, your brother is terribly exhausted. So, you gotta look after him, okay?" He patted her on the head.

"Kiyoshi, as soon as Tanjiro and I leave the room, strike that tsuzumi on your hands and get ready to move out. If there's someone trying to open the door or you hear something weird, strike that tsuzumi right away and make a run for it. It's all right. We'll come and find you two when we are done dealing with the demon. I promise."

"And also, we'll call out your names if we're done. Just be ready to strike it when we move out."

They both felt the weight being weighed down on them with the tasks they have to do for them. They nervously sweat.

"You just have to hold out a little longer." Tanjiro and Earth pat their shoulders. "Think you guys can do it?"

Despite the nerve-wracking sensation they had, they put on a determined look and nodded their heads.

"Wonderful! You guys are really brave!" Earth praised them. Tanjiro and Earth stood up and head towards the door. "We're heading out."

They waited until Kyogai gets near and his head slowly reveals and spots them immediately. Both Demon Slayers lunged forward, leaving behind a dusty trail.

"Strike it now!" Earth yelled. Kiyoshi did as instructed and struck the tsuzumi, changing the room's layout again. They are now sprinting to the demon even with their broken legs hindering them but that didn't stop them from going after the demon that started all of this.

"Damn insects! So infuriating!" Kyogai said with anger placed in his voice and tapped his right tsuzumi twice, making the room flip upside-down. They recognized the pattern immediately and maneuvered in midair and landed on the ceiling without any external injuries.

Kyogai walked inside the room. Gravity totally defied his body as he is now standing on the room's floor even if it's flipped upside-down. Kyogai tapped the middle tsuzumi twice and sents out his claw attack at them. Earth ducked under the claw attack and moved to the left and Tanjiro swiftly dodged the claw and moved to the right, giving themselves some space to move around.

_'From what I can gather around, the tsuzumi on his right shoulder brings this room to flip on the right. The tsuzumi on his left shoulder turns to the left!' _Earth thought as he landed on the mentioned parts of the flipped sides without ragdolling himself down all willy-nilly.

_'His right leg, forward spin! His left leg, backward!_ _The tsuzumi on his belly launches that claw attack!' _Earth almost had his head torn off by the claw. He jumped away for more distance but it was still pointless. The claw is still finding its way to him no matter the distance.

_'But thanks to my hearing, I can deduct where and when the claw attack is going to be at!' _Earth's mind and body is now on autopilot with him managing to stay on the tsuzumi's sound patterns and landing on some spots that can be landed. It's another side story with Tanjiro as he had some trouble maneuvering around the flipping room. Meanwhile after the whole charade is still going, Tanjiro found a spot where he can get close to demon and brought his blade near to Kyogai.

"Crap!" Earth jumped towards Tanjiro and pushed himself out of harm's way after almost being sliced into bits by the claw attack.

_"Grrr! The sound of the tsuzumi is so fast! The rotations, the attacks, they're unbelievably collateral!' _Earth and Tanjiro crashed harshly on the wall and slumped down on the tatami floors with a loud thud. The impact had jagged his already broken ribs and nearly cracked his right arm. Earth winced in pain.

"Gaah!" He forcibly exhaled an unneeded blood out of him.

_'This hurts so much...! Even if Miss Tamayo treated my wounds, they're still not fully healed yet!' _Earth did a mistake by trying to get up and heard the sounds of his ribs cracking.

_'Can I beat him? Can Tanjiro beat him? My injuries hurt so bad that I can hardly stand it!'_

He thought about the time when he, Tanjiro, and Zenitsu were walking on the fields leading to their next mission. To their obliviousness, but most probably from Zenitsu, BoBoiBoy clutched on his chest, where his ribs were located. The damage is still there even if it's treated fairly. But he still wouldn't tolerate that much pain inside him, even if he has high pain tolerance.

When he got up, Kyogai tapped his middle tsuzumi twice at Earth. Tanjiro gave him a helping hand and removed him from his spot. They jumped away from the claw attacks.

_'This is honestly scaring me to death! If I try to move in closer to the demon, he would always send out his claw to try and slash me or flip the room around to unbalance me. Even so, if I try to attack him in a striking distance, I would always stumble because of the pain!'_

When they made it to the back, Earth almost reached his limits. Heavy breathing and leaking blood out of his mouth is taking much toll on his body.

_'Am I... leaking blood...?' _His eyes widen when he feels his blood leaving him. He brought his hand close to his mouth and felt the liquid sensation on the palm of his hand.

_'I'm bleeding... I'm bleeding...'_

He stared down at his own blood. There was something about it that made him remind Earth of something. Never had he once thought he would actually bleed from his own internal injuries. That much he doesn't know about it considering that he's supposed to be the leader. A leader that needs to put a strong front. A leader that is suppose to be an endurance of all fragile individuals.

_'I have to be strong...! I have to... But... It's..__. It's so...'_

He felt his throat tighten around. What was this dreadful feeling he is feeling right now? Why, of all times, does it have to be in this situation he is in right now? The mere sensation rendered him immobile for a while. Soon after, a voice yanked him out of his thoughts.

_"Seriously BoBoiBoy? What in the world had happened to you?" _

Earth thought he knew that voice. It was deep. He couldn't recall with his memories feeling fuzzy.

_'Is... Is th-that...?'_

_'Hmph! I thought your time here would help you cope up but it appeared that you need more time."_

Black boots stood in front of Earth, who had both knees on the ground.

_"BoBoiBoy, if you can't defeat that demon, would you still call yourself a leader? Even after getting separated from Tanjiro, would you still rely on him or yourself?"_

Earth saw a hand, a purple fingerless gloved hand.

_"They're going to die if you don't step up, BoBoiBoy. Broken bones or not, prove to them that you are strong!"_

He had no idea who he was hearing or listening to. As expected he tried to look up to see who this person, but all he sees is a black mist covering up the person's face. Vision hasty and blurry, he kind of make out a slight _purple_ strand of hair before sending himself back into reality.

***GASP***

Earth dodged the incoming claw attack in a flash and with instinct. He landed right beside Tanjiro, who seems to deep in thought.

_'Whoever that was in my head, I'll prove it to them! I'll prove it to them once and for all that I'm worthy to be a good leader!'_

He affixed his eyes on the demon, with a look of courage and strife. He held on his sword, applying his stance like he did to Sabito. Earth's eyes glowed an unnatural brown color.

"Tanjiro." Earth addressed the dark redhead, without exchanging a glance. "I'll lead and you mirror my movements. You have ten **Water Breathing** techniques and I have ten **Earth Breathing** techniques. We won't take down the demon unless we work together!"

"I get that already! Do you have any plans about this?"

He thought about the situation wherein Tanjiro explained to Lightning of defeating Yahaba using the improvised method he explained and it worked in the end. And since this is one of those situations, Earth had an idea of what to utilize to eliminate the demon once and for all.

"Let's use another combo move!"

Tanjiro gets up and applied his stance similarly to Earth's. "A combo move? Are you absolutely sure it would work?" He sounded skeptical.

"It worked last time and we'll do it again! Besides, we've done a good job until now! We'll give it all we've got, Tanjiro! We have what it takes! And not today..."

He faced Tanjiro. "...or any time in the future." Then at Kyogai. "Even if we're broken...!"

Kyogai growled at them.

"We'll never give up no matter what!" Earth shouted.

_'I'll show you what a good leader is for!'_

* * *

**Sounded a bit cheesy there, I know. Just thought I'll end it here with Earth questioning his morality if being a leader. I admire Earth/Quake so much because he's such an awesome element among the other BoBoiBoys I've seen.**

**Excluding Ice. He still a 'cool' element in my book. (Ba dum tss) :D**

**And also, Lightning, our loner boi, finally witnessed the power of our lovable French fry ****boi. Thunderclap and Flash will remain one of my favorite breathing technique for now. We'll just have to wait for Season 2 or the movie to see the rest of the breathing techniques!**

**~ Ciao for now, people!**


	14. Something More Important Than Life

It had been like an hour since they have stumbled upon this abandoned. It turns out it wasn't an abandon household and is actually a territorial boundary for demons that seeks shelter from the sun. It's purpose is probably to lure in traveling folks into thinking this is a safe haven in the middle of the dense forest. In actuality, the method is overused and has been successful so far. Demons would do anything they can to stuff their bellies with. That or just with force no matter if it's daylight or the break of dusk. Desperation is the start of a new adrenaline seeker.

Inside of the house, Zenitsu carried an unconscious lightning elemental BoBoiBoy on his back and lightly jogged their way to someplace where they can find Tanjiro and the others. Shoichi is seen keeping up Zenitsu's pace while at the same time making sure Lightning isn't going to fall off on Zenitsu anytime.

His thoughts run on Zenitsu. At first, he was basically a coward, always cowering away from danger even clinging onto a person who is younger than him. Zenitsu proved him wrong by doing his technique on a demon and saved Lightning from an immenent demise. However, Zenitsu didn't know it was his own doing and Shoichi kept this from him to avoid making Zenitsu doubting his ability.

"Where are you, guys?" Zenitsu huffed and continued on with their search. _'I can still hear that creepy sound. Just be safe and sound, guys!'_

"Um, Zenitsu?" Shoichi questioned. "Is it just me, or are we just going around and around in circles?"

"I knew it!" Zenitsu said and they both stopped to catch their breath. "I was getting the same feeling! Shoichi, I knew I could count on you!"

He ran his eyes on Lightning on his back. He didn't budge or move but he can hear his slight breathing. "You'll be alright, BoBoiBoy! The least I can do is to make sure you'll make out alright!"

Although this is entirely false. Lightning hadn't done much except fending himself against the demon. Shoichi inner debated if he should tell Zenitsu what really happen but his other side won the argument and let himself stay silent in the meantime.

"All right, could you check to see if this room is safe?" Zenitsu asked the shorter boy. Shoichi should have protest but seeing him carrying Lightning on his back would make him harder to do some tasks. Nodding his head, Shoichi lightly opened up the sliding door. His eyes vibratingly scanned inside and to his relief, nothing came out of the ordinary.

"There's nobody around." Shoichi said while sweat is pouring down his head.

"Right! Let's go this way!" Zenitsu adjusted his arms and careful not to let go of Lightning and both of them entered inside. "Tanjiro, please show up!"

Before any of them would run forward, the room flipped vertically. They didn't have time to register nor give a reaction as to how it happened.

"Th-The room... just flipped!" And just like, all of them fell. Zenitsu and Shoichi both screamed until the sliding doors automatically opened up and the final one revealed the actual outside of the house. They launched themselves out of there and crashed on the ground with a loud thud.

Zenitsu involuntarily released Lightning and that made him hit the ground on the head. The last thing Zenitsu sees is gazing at the cloud sky.

Surely, it was Kyogai that done that to flip the room around and made BoBoiBoy Earth and Tanjiro flopped everywhere. It continued for a while when Earth caught Tanjiro by his arm and spin him around to throw him to another spot that will give them some hints on what to do.

"Tanjiro! Keep dodging his claws and predict when the room's gonna flip around soon! Broken bones or not, show him how unstoppable we are!" Were Earth's encouraging statement towards Tanjiro. Gritting his teeth and firmly grasping the handle of his sword's hilt, Tanjiro immediately dodged Kyogai's sudden claw attacks without letting up one bit.

Each of them still can't get used of the room continuously flipping in any unpredictable rotations. Even if Earth can pinpoint the sounds of the tsuzumi's rotation ability, he still wasn't able to land on the spot perfectly because of the broken bones within him. Tanjiro grabbed on hold of the swinging lantern and Earth roughly landed on the wall next to a sliding door, which is destroyed.

_'Despite our many attempts, we're never gonna defeat the demon using our spirit alone! C'mon Earth, use your head! Not just motivation but your intellect as well!'_

Busying himself with the prep talk, Tanjiro almost let himself get slashed by the claw had he not let go of the swating lantern. He was a hair away of falling down the door that leads to a long dark hallway when Earth caught him just in time.

"Thanks! That was a close call!" Earth pulled Tanjiro up albeit the achy feeling inside of his torso. The broken ribs damaged his internal organs.

"It's... not over... yet...!" Earth panted and Tanjiro lent him a supporting hand.

"Damn! This is so annoying! I gotta consume some Marechi! There's no time to lose!" Kyogai said frustratingly and tapped his tsuzumi. The flipped rotated once more and made the boys fell down once again.

"Aaughh!" Earth groaned in great pain. His already damaged bones intensified.

"At this rate, there's not even a time to stop and think!" Tanjiro is starting to get annoyed with this.

"You're telling me." Earth slowly gets up and both of them evaded the oncoming claw attack. He turned his attention to Kyogai.

"Hey you! What's your name?" Earth asked for the demon's name.

The mentioned demon was taken aback but answered his question anyway. "Kyogai."

"Kyogai! We're not handing over Kiyoshi... the Marechi to you! We're not gonna cave! We're not giving up!" Earth extended his fist up to express himself.

"We don't wanna hand over the Marechi to you! If you want him, you're gonna have to get through us first!" Tanjiro added.

Their bold declaration triggers a memory inside Kyogai. He saw himself sitting down, looking down in shame and guilt. An old man was presented as well.

_"Just give up, will you?"_ The old man said

Hearing them say that is making Kyogai riled up. "I'm going to get my hands on some Marechi..." He raised his head up and revealed his irises including the label on his right eye that read Lower Moon Six. "...AND RECLAIM MY PLACE AMONG THE TWELVE KIZUKI!"

In his anger, he pressed against his tsuzumi's at a faster rate, making the room rotate entirely in random and sending out claw attacks everywhere. Earth and Tanjiro are forced to take precautions and tried their very best to dodge everything. Papers on the shelves all flew out and were spreading everywhere. Some pieces of paper somehow covered up Earth's face and he struggled for little while to get them off. But when he removed the paper and read some contents plastered on it, he felt intrigued by its writings.

"Interesting..." Earth commented and continued to dodge more of the claw attacks.

Kyogai's memory continued. _"Just give up, will you? It's so boring!"_

_It was raining outside. The household they were in were Kyogai's home. All the lights inside are assumed to be off._

_"Your writing is just so boring. Every last word is utter trash!" The old man said and dropped all the papers he had in his hands on the floor._

_"No beauty, no fragility, no impact. Why don't you forget about writing? It's just a waste of paper and fountain pens!"_

_Kyogai remained on being silent while he keeps receiving the harsh criticism._

_"You never even step outside anymore these days. So no wonder you're so boring! You should just enjoy your hobby, playing the tsuzumi as long as you're shut in here. Not that you have the skills to teach that, either!"_

_The old man finished what he's saying and trampled on the papers. The human Kyogai, seeing his work being stepped on by a man he once respected, is boiling inside in anger. His eyes are filling in with red, meaning that his demon side is showing. He revealed a tsuzumi on his stomach and tapped it. The old man behind him were slashed into four pieces._

_The memory ended._

"OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU DAMN INSECTS!!" Kyogai has had enough. For being reminded of his work being deemed a failure, for having the person he respected not recognizing his true talent, he's beyond angry.

"RAPID DRUMMING!!!" Kyogai held his arms up, readying his drums.

"Oh no! By the sounds of his tone, he'll be hitting them in like a bullet's speed!" Earth narrowed his eyes.

Kyogai brought both of his hands down hard on his tsuzumis, striking them now in a speed of light. The room spins rapidly at the sound of the tsuzumis being tapped. Earth and Tanjiro, screaming from the defying gravity being controlled, ragdolled in the air, and the papers are scattered around.

_'This is making me dizzy as hell! Honestly, that skill Kyogai has, it's amazing!'_ Earth lands safely and avoided the claw attack. This time, instead of being three-clawed, it is now five-clawed.

_'It's not just three but five claws in total now!'_ Earth maneuvered himself around the air. Seeing the pile of papers scattered on the floor, Earth carefully puts his foot on the floor without stepping on the papers. Tanjiro lightly landed without stepping on them as well. This made Kyogai stop and stare at them. His work isn't being stepped on by them. He wondered why they didn't trample on the papers.

"Wait a second..." Earth discerns Kyogai's paper quickly enough then moves to the side to avoid getting slashed by the claws coming. "These papers mean something to him... that's why he hesitated to strike the tsuzumi just then! Hey Tanjiro!"

Tanjiro avoided a claw attack and jumped right next to him. "What is it?"

"Listen to me, move your body swiftly using your feet and don't sway your body that much. It's a way of not aggravating our wounds. By doing this, not only we can do it but we can now do our breathing correctly!"

Tanjiro takes in his words and put them into action. Kyogai tapped his tsuzumi and more claws are hurling their way.

"Take shallow breathings! Use the breathing technique to reinforce the muscles around the broken legs! Use your sense of smell to determine the claw attacks position!" Earth gives his orders.

_'I'll be concentrating on dodging on the claws if I have to! I just need for Tanjiro to get in close to the demon to deliver the finishing blow!'_ Earth picked up a swerving sound from the claw's noise.

_'There's the sound of the claw! From above!'_ Earth ducked under and the claw missed its target. He dodged many of them in different directions. Tanjiro is also managing his own really well.

_'Above!'_

_'Left!'_

_'Right!'_

_'Behind!'_

Kyogai looked on them with a nervous face. _'They're evading all of my attacks!' _Earth takes one shallow breath. _'Now. To disrupt the room to unable to flip, I need to hold it in place.'_

"**Total Concentration! Earth Breathing! Third Form!"** Once he gathered enough air in his lungs, Earth stabbed his sword in the floor, making the entire house shake until it stopped momentarily. Kyogai tried to tap his tsuzumi again but the room didn't flip.

_'What the hell is this?! The room didn't respond to my literal beat of the drum!'_ Kyogai thought with a sweat. Earth had found the room's weakness.

"**Shattering Earth Bindings!**" Earth pulled the sword out of the ground, making another rumble inside the room. 'I only disabled the room's orientation for a while! This should give us enough time to get up close to Kyogai!'

"All right! Go, Tanjiro!" Hearing his cue, Tanjiro takes a deep breath.

"**Total Concentration! Water Breathing! Ninth Form, Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent!**"

He then sprinted across the room, leaving splashing water in his trail and allowing Tanjiro to move around the room without any limitation to his body.

_'Minimize the landing time and area as much as possible! I can move freely thanks to Earth halting the room's orientation!'_ Tanjiro thought mid sprint.

_'He's adapting to the room's orientation changes! Not only that, the other one completely disabled my tsuzumi's rotation ability! Just what on earth is that?!'_ Kyogai can feel his death coming closer, however, he hasn't forgotten about his claw attack either.

"Die already!" Kyogai tapped thrice on his middle tsuzumi and sends out three consecutive five-clawed attacks on Tanjiro.

"**Total Concentration, Earth Breathing, Second Form, Earth Barrier: Defense!**" Earth channelled his inner strength and summon a rock wall as a defense mechanism for Tanjiro. The claws made contact with the wall and almost grazed the wall. Tanjiro maneuvered around the rock wall, stands on top of the wall, and unleashed another move.

"**Water Breathing, Eighth Form!**" He leaps down from that wall and Kyogai didn't have time to tap one of his tsuzumis.

"Kyogai!" He heard his name being called by Earth. "Your **Blood Demon Art** is truly incredible!"

Kyogai had made a surprised face. Before his death is approaching, the last thing he heard is him compliment his abilities. And as he knew it, his head is now decapitated by Tanjiro.

"**Modified! Promontory Waterfall Basin!**" Using another breathing technique, Tanjiro swung his sword vertically on Kyogai's head, at the same time releasing flows of water spreading across the room temporarily along with the Earth Barrier, that acts as like a diving mechanic for Tanjiro unleashing the move he made, thus creating another combination move in a form of a high land that sticks out into the sea. Tanjiro as the water and Earth as the rocks.

His head made contact onto the tatami floors, rolling around until his head is fully facing his way to the Demon Slayers. Tanjiro landed on both feet unharmed from the technique he made. The Earth Barrier collapsed and made a resounding noise across the house.

"We did it...! Tanjiro, we did it!" Earth happily went his way to Tanjiro, who took a deep breath and caused his broken bones to react in pain. He clutched onto his chest painfully.

"You shouldn't have done that! That would make your bones worse than it is already!" Earth said with concern for his brother figure. But as soon as he said, Earth's bones also reacted from the amount of breathing he done, which also caused him to hold on to his chest.

_'Gah! So much... for that...!'_

"Boys..." They heard Kyogai, the bodiless Kyogai, only his head remained, speaking to them. "Answer me. You think my **Blood Demon Art**... was truly incredible?"

Tanjiro looked away, frowning from his question. "It was amazing. But..." He paused before turning to the demon again. "I can't forgive you for killing others."

Kyogai understood. "I see... What about you... Boy?"

Earth had a sad look. "Kyogai... Your abilities are really amazing. And also... your work..."

"Huh...?" Kyogai is confused, not knowing what he meant by your work. Earth noticed his confusion and picked up a piece of paper lying on the floor.

"These writings... made by Kyogai himself. I can tell that you put lots of effort into making them. And I gotta say, they're... very unique and astonishing to read." He gave his criteria on Kyogai's work. Hearing him praising his work made Kyogai had tears in his eyes.

"Oh, wait, I gotta get a blood sample." Tanjiro muttered and pulled out an item meant for extracting blood and threw it at Kyogai's disintegrating body. The item automatically extracts the blood by up to the max.

"Awesome." Earth commented as he sees the thing extracting the blood. They made their way to the demon's body and watched the extractor do its work.

"So, it really does extract blood automatically if you stick it in there." Tanjiro pulls the item out of the body and examined it closely.

"Yushiro sure had a knack for creating something as cool as this." Earth said before hearing a cat's meow in the room.

"A cat?" Earth is confused as to why there's a cat in here. "The cat's also wearing an invisibility spell? Hehe. He looks so cute."

"Ah! You're the one who's going to deliver this to Miss Tamayo, huh?" Tanjiro caressed the cat's chin and placed the extractor inside of the container on the cat's back.

"Tanjiro, can I uhh.. have a turn?" Earth felt obligated to do the same thing to the cat as well. Tanjiro raised an eyebrow but said yes anyway. Earth gave him a smile and squat down to meet with the furry feline.

"Hey there." Earth pats the cat on the head and even caressed him on the chin, much to the cat's enjoyment.

"You... remind me of my first pet." He smiled faintly. It's true that he has his own pet cat named **Mimi**. "I wonder how's she's doing right now at home..."

Speaking of cats, his thoughts ran over to Cattus, cactus-looking feline. He missed him so much.

"Okay. I'm done." Earth stood up and the cat turned his back on him. "Take care now."

The feline started to walk away and meowed the second time, making the cat invisible again.

"Hey—" Tanjiro uttered.

"Whoa, he disappeared."

"I was told that Yushiro's spell, it would be invisible until it meowed, and then vanish again when it meowed a second time." Tanjiro explained.

"So, it's true, huh?" Earth mused. He then thought of Teruko and Kiyoshi.

"Hey Tanjiro, we need to search for Teruko and Kiyoshi. They could be anywhere around the house."

Tanjiro perked his head up. "Oh right! C'mon!"

As soon as they stood and made their way into the hallway, Earth paused and looked back to see Kyogai still straing at them. Eyes shaky and lips quivering, he stepped forward and crouched down to meet with Kyogai for one last time.

"Kyogai... I wish I can see more of your writings, I really do." Earth sympathized with him. Kyogai widened his eyes. "I can hear what you think. I'd never think of them as trash. You have the potential to be an amazing writer, if you hadn't become a demon in the first place."

"Y-You..." Kyogai can hardly keep his emotions in check and he teared up heavily.

"Earth..." Tanjiro quietly said.

"We'll be on our way now." Earth stood up and went over to Tanjiro, with a slightly happy look on his face.

_'My writings... weren't trash. At the very least, not to those kids. They saw fit not to trample on it.'_

His teary eyes found themselves staring at Earth. _'That kid... He praised my work... He complimented my ability to write. He saw the beauty I have put in. This isn't him faking it, it was genuine and passionate about my work.'_

"Rest in peace." Tanjiro and Earth bowed. Tanjiro ran off to find the siblings but Earth stayed one last time to look at the fading head.

Kyogai didn't even bother trying to hide his tears. He expressed them all out for Earth. Those two were the first people to have ever acknowledge his work.

"Farewell... Kyogai." Earth almost had his barriers broken after seeing Kyogai crying and hearing his wails. He now started running after Tanjiro and leaving him alone now.

_'My Blood Demon Art... my tsuzumi playing... and my writings... have been recognized.'_

Were his last final words. And like that, Kyogai is now gone, faded away in ashes, and that he can die knowing he is now acknowledged.

* * *

Kiyoshi! Teruko!"

"Kiyoshi! Teruko!"

They both yelled out the siblings names whilst running down the halls. The spotted a familiar sliding door and opened it.

"Kiyoshi! Teruko!"

Whirling objects are being thrown at Tanjiro now. He evaded two of them but then got struck by a book on the forehead.

"Hey! What's the ruckus abo—" Did not get to finish what he's going to say when he got struck by a vase on the head, making him comedically slump down.

The siblings realized that they have done and looked at them. "Tanjiro... BoBoiBoy..."

"Why are you throwing stuff at us?!" Tanjiro said while holding his aching forehead from the blunt blow of the book.

"We're so sorry! The tsuzumi vanished, so we panicked."

"Nghh... Apology accepted." Earth groaned before letting himself up. "But it's all over now. The demon is gone now. We're safe now."

Teruko let out a bawl. Her nightmares in this place had finally come to an end. Earth walked over to her and patter her on the head.

"You two did great on holding out for so long. I'm proud for both of you." Earth formed a grin.

"Come on, let's head outside. Climb onto my back, Kiyoshi." Tanjiro bent down and offer a piggyback ride.

"O-Okay." Kiyoshi staggers a bit and let himself latch onto Tanjiro's back.

"You must be tired Teruko. Come on. Let me carry you." Earth did the same manner as Tanjiro and bent down. She immediately climbed on top of his back and he placed his arms beneath her legs for support.

They now walk down into the dark hallway. The four are casually taking their time to find their way out of here.

"Is your leg okay?" Tanjiro asked.

"Yes!" Kiyoshi replied.

"You just have to be brave a little longer."

"How about you, Teruko? Everything okay?" Earth cooed at her. She nodded her head. That alone is enough for Earth to usher on to find the exit.

"I'm picking up Zenitsu, Lightning, and Shoichi's scent. They must be outside."

Earth paused when he heard the sound of something beating and smacking someone.

_'I heard bashing sounds!'_

"Is something wrong?" Teruko wondered why he stopped.

"Oh, it's nothing." Earth replied. He even saw Tanjiro in a similar manner as well.

"Do you feel that, Tanjiro?"

Tanjiro nodded. "Yeah. Come on, let's hurry."

They picked up their pace and lightly jogged their way to the exit. The sight of the exit is within their reach. But when they finally gotten out of the house, they were greeted with a horrible scene unfolding in front of them.

"Take this! Move it! Take this!" The boar masked boy, Inosuke, is seen kicking his foot onto Lightning, who keeps blocking using his arms trying to protect Zenitsu, who looked bloody from all the beating he received.

"Draw your swords and fight me! You spineless punks!"

A sense of fear dawned on Tanjiro and Earth, each seeing their friends in danger and being beaten up by Inosuke. Shoichi is behind a tree, silently crying and witnessing the brutal display being played.

"Tanjiro..." Zenitsu said weakly, obviously from the numerous beatings. "We protected it."

Tanjiro looked Zenitsu and looked like he's ready to cry.

"Because you said... this was more important to you than your life. The thing is..." Zenitsu paused.

Lightning is seen clenching his teeth, blood trickled down his head, bruises are present on his face, and many sorts of dirt appeared on his face. He looked battered up than any injured person they have ever seen.

"Earth... Ngh... What took you guys... so long...?" His voice is really painful to hear.

"L-Lightning..." Earth widen his eyes, all shaken from the horrible state Lightning got himself into. However, for the lightning element, he's stubborn and despite all the injuries he received, he finds himself getting up and still have more fight left in him.

"Zenitsu... Get up."

The mentioned boy weakly got up, fists ready and glare at the unforgiving boar for all the beatings.

* * *

Earlier on, after them being launched out of the house, Zenitsu is still unconscious. The wind swayed his clothes and he barely felt the passing breeze.

_'I've always had really good hearing. One time, I knew what people said while I was asleep, and that creeped everyone out. I'm not hearing any more demon sounds. Tanjiro, and the other BoBoiBoy, you defeated that demon, didn't you? I can hear you guys, and also these weird-sounding, loud footsteps.'_ Were Zenitsu's thoughts in his moment of solitude.

Lightning still laid there on the ground. He stirred awake and lightly opened his eyes. His eyes were greeted by the sunlight waving down on his body. He put up a hand in front of his face, shielding the sun's view. He then made a weak sigh and tried his best to get up. He almost forgot the pain he felt earlier then held his chest tightly.

"BoBoiBoy! You're awake!" He heard Shoichi running to his spot. "Thank goodness! I thought you wouldn't wake up!"

Lightning shakes his head carefully, not to aggravate the wounds, for a few seconds, making sure he's actually awake this time. Even though he couldn't get up, Shoichi supported him up anyway.

"Where are we...?" Lightning adjusted his eyes on the new environment.

"Outside! We're now outside of the house!" Shoichi replied with stray tears in his eyes. Lightning confirmed his suspicions based on surveying his surroundings. They are indeed outside the house.

"Where's Zenitsu?"

Shoichi pointed at the downed boy over at the front of the house. He still hasn't wake up yet. Lightning staggered his way to Zenitsu and shook him gently.

"Zenitsu! Wake up! C'mon, Zenitsu!" It worked as Zenitsu slowly opened his eyes and was met with Lightning's yellow orbs. "Phew. Are you all right?"

Zenitsu sat up and stared at him for a moment. "Y-Yeah."

"When the room spun around, we got thrown outside. We fell from the second-story window." Shoichi explained.

Zenitsu puts his hand behind his head. "Did we now?" Flowery images floated on top of his head.

"Were you okay, Shoichi? You looked like you aren't hurt at all." Lightning raised an eyebrow.

"Zenitsu was protecting me. But..." Shoichi trailed off.

"I'm glad to hear that." Zenitsu made a smile. "So, tell me, why all the tears?"

And when he asked that, he felt a liquid sensation behind his head and brought his hand in front of him to reveal blood on it. He takes a moment to register what happened before coming to a conclusion.

"NOW I GET IT! I FELL RIGHT ONTO MY HEAD, DIDN'T I?!" Zenitsu screamed in fright.

"Yes." Shoichi replied.

"Am I gonna... Am I gonna die?!" Zenitsu can faintly feel the swirls emanating in his head. "My head is starting to spin."

Lightning sighed. "Stop it. It's not that fatal. The wound should heal if you—"

Suddenly, they heard laughing coming from inside the house.

"What's this? What's this? What's this?!" Zenitsu looked at the sliding doors.

"It's that guy's voice again!" Lightning recognized the person's voice tone.

"Comin' through! Comin' through!" That last part was clear as the person headbutted the doors, breaking and knocking them over.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! THERE IT IS AGAIN! THE MONSTER BOAR!!" Zenitsu huddled up on Lightning for protection.

"Hey! How many times are you gonna cling on me?!" Lightning exclaimed.

Inosuke laughed maniacally. "I'm getting a demonic vibe."

Zenitsu eventually let Lightning go and stared at Inosuke. "It's him! I was able to tell from his voice! He's the fifth survivor!"

"Fifth survivor?" Lightning mused then turned to look at Zenitsu.

"During Final Selection, he was the first to rush up the mountain and then he came down from the mountain before anyone else! Mr. Impatient!"

"Really? Hm." Lightning sets his eyes on Inosuke. The latter scanned anywhere for the demonic vibe he sensed. Later, his eyes landed on the box, Tanjiro's box, near the bushes.

Inosuke chuckled. "Hey, found it!"

"Oh crap! Nezuko!" Lightning couldn't just stand there and let Inosuke get the box, which houses Nezuko inside. He sprang up, ignoring the pain in his chest, and tackled Inosuke on the ground.

"BoBoiBoy!" Zenitsu ran and stood in front of the box. Inosuke kicked away Lightning off of him. He slid across until Zenitsu caught him and helped him back up.

"Who the hell are you two? Get out of the way!" Inosuke gazed on Lightning. "Huh, you're that punk from inside the house! How the hell are you outside now?!"

"Me? He must be referring to Earth." Lightning uttered.

"I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma and he's BoBoiBoy! We're with the Demon Slayer Corps like you!"

"Demon Slayer Corps?" Inosuke repeated. "Then I shouldn't have to tell you! We gotta get rid of that thing! Now, get the hell outta my way!"

"I'm not moving!" Zenitsu yelled.

"Neither do I!" Lightning glared at the boar. "This is Tanjiro's—"

"Don't argue with me!" Inosuke retorted. "In that case, I'm gonna demolish him and the box together!"

Inosuke raised one of his swords and puts it near Lightning's head by the side. "Get outta my way!"

Lightning didn't faze one bit nor flinch at the boar. Instead, he gave his infamous glare towards the boar, a glare filled with anger.

"No." A simple word packed with venom, even Zenitsu shivered at the word.

"Why, you..." Inosuke isn't backing down from him.

"Inside this box... Inside this box is something we're not letting you touch! Something precious to Tanjiro!" Zenitsu said.

"Oh, hey, come on! What are you talking about? There's a demon inside that box! Don't you get that?" Inosuke stated to instill sone reasoning in them. Unbeknownst to Inosuke, they both knew it before he does.

"How could you know there's a demon inside the box?" Lightning asked.

"I can feel their presence even if they're far away! This one inside is obviously a demon! Now move outta the way!" Inosuke clarified.

"Of course I knew there's a demon inside! I've known that from the very start!" Zenitsu admitted, which caused them both to look at him.

"Zenitsu... You knew...?" Lightning, feeling his anger swept away, stared at Zenitsu in disbelief.

"I knew you were both traveling with a demon. Because the sounds demons make aren't anything like human sounds. But... I can pick up a sound so gentle and kind from Tanjiro, it makes me want to cry. So kind, I don't think I've ever heard anything like it before. You, on the other hand, your sound is emanating with kindness like Tanjiro, but somehow, the current you right now is filled with anger."

"All living creatures constantly give off sounds. The world is full of all these sounds spilling out. Breathing, heartbeats, the sound of blood circulating... By listening closely, I could tell what someone was thinking. But I've been deceived by others time and time again. I've always believed in whomever I wanted to believe in."

"Tanjiro, despite being a Demon Slayer, is traveling with a demon. BoBoiBoy, also a Demon Slayer. You are traveling with someone accompanying a demon. But I'm sure both of you have a reason for that. And that it's the reason I can accept! I believe that!"

"Z-Zenitsu..." Lightning softly said after listening about Zenitsu's ability. He felt guilty for treating him unfairly inside of the house and that he's just someone that wanted to be believed in from others. Lightning often knew that there is something more from Zenitsu but he just couldn't put his finger on anything until he heard of his story now.

And here he is now, risking his own body and life all for Tanjiro's box. He's a good person to be able to risk anything all for their friend even if they just met for like a few hours ago.

_"You just need to think of something positive that motivates you into doing something. Like uhhh... a friend that is there for you._

_"Friend..." He mumbled._

"BoBoiBoy..."

Even if he's not the original, Lightning fully faced him.

"I thought about what you said... And I'm sorry if I hadn't been exactly the kind of person you wanted me to become someday. As of now, I'll start believing in myself from now on..."

Lightning didn't know what to say at this point. His mouth opened but no words flew out of it.

"Despite a few hours ago, you and I are... friends, right?"

Then this struck him whole. What Zenitsu really wanted was a friend that believed in him. But no matter how much trial and error he did to make friends, they'd always leave him, backstab him, or betray him. But BoBoiBoy and Tanjiro never treated him as an outsider or a stranger to him. For once in his life, he felt happy, happy knowing that there always some good people in the world, and he finally has what he wanted.

Friends.

"I..."

Inosuke, after hearing Zenitsu's speech, stared down on him and not on Lightning this time.

"I'm going to ask Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy directly myself! So, you..."

Zenitsu's face darkened. "You can just back off!"

"Why, you...!" Inosuke attempted to kick Zenitsu. Lightning prevented that to happen and kicked him away before he can.

"Get the hell away!" Lightning growled at Inosuke. Inosuke lunged at his spot and tackled Lightning onto the ground. They wrestled for a bit until Zenitsu pulled Inosuke off of Lightning then punched him in the gut. He pulled back force as much as possible and throw another jab at Inosuke, sending him to the ground.

"Nice one, Zenitsu." Lightning smirked. Zenitsu isn't done yet. He pinned Inosuke on the ground while the boar masked boy elbowed him on the back.

"Let go of me, dammit!" Inosuke pulled Zenitsu's hair then threw him away. "You're so annoying!"

Lightning watched as Zenitsu spat out saliva after landing roughly. "How dare you!!"

Inosuke almost made it to the box before he has his foot stuck on something. He turned to see Zenitsu pulling on one of his foot.

"You're not laying a finger on that! BoBoiBoy, now!"

Lightning did a swift punch to Inosuke on the chest, making the masked boy cough up. Lightning continued the facade of kicking and punching the masked boar until he felt his ribs acting up again. Inosuke used this opportunity to kick Zenitsu continuously, earning Zenitsu a black eye, and attacked Lightning by punching him many times in the head, stomach, and the wounded part of his ribs then threw him to the side.

"Stop that!" Zenitsu gathered enough strength to throw Inosuke away by his foot. "That box is something precious to Tanjiro!"

"***cough*cough***" Lightning violently coughed up blood from being beaten up many times. But he can still handle the pain enough. Adrenaline kicked in and that caused to divide the pain he's enduring.

"You're not touching it until he gets back!" Zenitsu covered the box using his entire body.

"Damn you!" Inosuke rushed forward and roughly kicked Zenitsu in the face. Each kick brings forth blood to spill on the ground.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!" Lightning angrily gets up from his spot and punched Inosuke as hard as he can. Inosuke felt his own ribcage cracked from the punch itself. Inosuke gaspee for air inside of his own mask.

"***pant*pant*pant***" Were his ragged breathing escaping his mouth. Inosuke stubbornly went up and pushed Lightning harshly and he fell down on Zenitsu.

"Now, move it!" Inosuke forwarded his sword on them.

"We won't!" Zenitsu yelled and still protecting the box. Lightning held his arms up, as a last ditch effort for defending himself and Zenitsu until Tanjiro and Earth gets here. And by the time they all got here, this is the first thing they see.

"Take this!" Inosuke had enough and brought down his foot onto Lightning. "Move it! Take this!"

"Draw your swords and fight me! You spineless punks!"

Tanjiro and Earth looked on with fearful expressions.

"Tanjiro... We protected it. Because you said... this was more important to you... than your life."

Lightning coughed up blood. "Earth... Ngh... What took you guys... so long...?"

The mentioned elemental released Teruko and put a hand on his mouth. His eyes are visibly shaking because of the state they're in.

"Zenitsu... Get up." Lightning and Zenitsu got in their fighting stances, barehandedly.

"After all that bluster, you won't even draw your swords, you dumbasses? If you're a fellow Demon Slayer, then let's see you fight!"

"Says the pot calling the kettle black." Lightning remarked, because of the taboo of not drawing their swords against Demon Slayers, he'll have to abide for that unless if it's necessary.

"What was that?!" Inosuke delivered a kick towards Lightning, who grabbed a firm hold of his foot then quickly threw Inosuke in the air. However, Inosuke delivered an axe kick and vertically kicked Lightning in the head, finally knocking him down on the ground, making his body go limp.

"NOOO!" Earth couldn't stand there and had to interfere or else, Inosuke will continue to beat them into a bloody pulp.

"If you won't get out of my way, I'll just have to skewer you two along with the box!" Inosuke positioned his sword, having his blades directly pointing at Zenitsu and the box. He raised them up before delivering them down.

"Knock it off!" Tanjiro and Earth said simultaneously. And before any of them knew it, they sprang forward.

"KNOCK IT OOOOOOOOOOFF!!!" They have never been this angry with someone before. Not to mention, Earth was never angry at somebody in his entire life, except for a certain alien. But now this is different. He watched his friends being reduced into nothing but punching bags for the boy in the boar mask.

They reared their fists, making sure that Inosuke will regret messing with the likes of them ever again.

* * *

**Not much to say about this but I can say is that having a monthly holiday due to COVID-19 is making me feel homesick.**

**Stay safe you guys. Stay indoors, wear masks, bring alcohol at all times, apply social distancing to reduce and avoid making contact with a person that has a probable corona on them, and TAPOPS salute them as a form of greeting. XD**

**~ s a y o n a r a, m i n n a ~_~**


	15. The House with the Family Wisteria Crest

Some say that a good man's anger is the most dangerous, most powerful, and the most fearful emotion in the world. Put them in the battlefield and no man is ever safe. Tanjiro had shown a good example of what good anger feels like. This isn't the first time that he displayed such pure anger, unless if someone closest to him gets critically wounded, then there's a reason that he should be angry at Inosuke. Earth, on the other hand, displays raw anger than he had never felt while battling against someone who hurts his close friends. This isn't just any normal anger that any impatient people felt.

This is boiled anger.

"KNOCK IT OOOOOOOOOOOOFF!!" Were the loud roars emanated on the two gentle souls.

Tanjiro was the first to land a hard punch as he can muster, followed by Earth doubling the blow by another rock hard fist. The solid fist is digging his way into Inosuke's flesh. Earth can hear Inosuke's ribs cracking from his punch and he gasped out air. Earth skidded him a distance away from Zenitsu holding the box.

"He broke his bones!" Zenitsu eyes were wide. "Talk about overkill! You nearly broke every ribs he has!"

"That's more than enough from me." Earth said with a cold expression and tone.

"Aren't you a member of the Demon Slayer Corps?!" Tanjiro, hand creating a fist after he punched Inosuke, angrily glare at him. "Don't you get why Zenitsu and BoBoiBoy refuses to draw their swords?! It's because it's taboo for us to draw our swords on each other for no reason!"

Zenitsu had chills running on the back of his spine when he sees Tanjiro's face, anger clearly presented from the former gentle one earlier.

"But here you are, giving them a one-sided beatdown! Is that fun for you?! You're the lowest of the low!" Tanjiro clenched his fist so hard, his knuckles almost turned white.

"Grrr..!" Earth is too busy giving the boy one of his rare glares. Which spelled anger, frustration, and even something that is underused, a killer intent.

Inosuke, somehow survived the multiple punches earlier, instead from groaning in pain, only laughed with some mix of spitting out saliva.

"Oh, so that's why? My bad. In that case, let's fight barehanded."

Tanjiro held out his hand. "No! I don't think you get it all!"

"I don't think reasoning with this guy isn't gonna help, Tanjiro." Earth cracked his knuckles. "Here he comes!"

Inosuke sprang back up and lunged at them.

"Stop! We're not supposed to fight each other, period!" Thus, another fight is initiated. Inosuke used a kick on Tanjiro when the latter dodged by maneuvering towards the side. Inosuke goes for jabbing Tanjiro on his middle torso and once again he evaded most of them. Inosuke did a roundhouse kick but missed. Although, he's able to grab Tanjiro and spins him around using his own body to disorient Tanjiro's vision. By the time he done it, Inosuke tried to roundhouse kick him again, only to be evaded again.

_'Look at him! How can he move like that? I mean, they busted that guy's ribs pretty badly.'_ Zenitsu, with a bloody nose, spectated while holding the box. Shoichi happened to be by his side and brought out a white cloth.

"Quit attacking Tanjiro!" Earth intercepted and threw Inosuke off by grabbing his body, kneed him in the chest, and tossed him sideways. Inosuke quickly recovered and delivered one swift kick, which was blocked by Earth holding his foot firmly before slamming it down and elbowed Inosuke, causing him to fall over. The boar masked boy flinched although he did manage to sweep Earth off his feet then used the advantage to kick Earth on the head.

"Actually, aren't they running afoul of the taboo themselves? They did break his bones." Zenitsu said while Shoichi wiped away some of his blood off of Zenitsu's face.

The whole facade continues with Inosuke stubbornly trying to land every hits onto both of them as much as possible. Basically a two-on-one fight is unfairly advantageous and is playing dirty. Inosuke, however, is fairing quite good against the two of them. Even with broken bones, they can still keep up with each other. The only speciality in combat Inosuke is good at are low-based movements and wild, unorganized attacks. Tanjiro is still inexperienced in CQC, mostly because he's more adept at using a sword more than hands alone. Whereas Earth practiced martial arts in his time and knows what his opponent is going to throw next.

_'Th-This guy...' _Earth countered Inosuke's punch, but redirected his punch onto Tanjiro, making him stagger. _'His attacks are bizarrely low! It's just like... Just like...'_

Earth had recognized this attack pattern before. It was one time back when he was still training to use his Lightning Breathing Techniques, he was attacked by a wild boar. He saw the same wild beast in Inosuke.

_'...battling against a four-legged beast!'_

Still slipping away from the beast's kicks, Earth flexed his whole body lower than Inosuke. _'Target him low! Even lower than your opponent!'_

Even if he did swung his leg at Inosuke, the latter ducked under the swing with his superior flexibility and axe kicked Earth's head onto the ground.

_'No way! He still managed to kick me even while I'm attacking him from below? His flexibility joints, they're unbelievably superhuman!'_

A hard kick was enough to send Inosuke flying by Tanjiro. Inosuke abruptly made a harmless landing.

"Pretty amazing, aren't I?! Pretty amazing, aren't I?!" Inosuke boasted.

_'He said it twice! Singing his own praises...'_ Zenitsu wiped the blood off of his nose with a handkerchief.

"And look what else I can do!" He showed them that he can bend his entire body backwards until his head is in between his legs.

"Cut it out! Don't do stuff like that!" Tanjiro scolded.

"Stop that or you'll bust any more of your bones already! It's gonna get worse than before!" Earth intertwined.

Inosuke adjusted himself back to his original position. "Worse? Fine by me! Nothing can top the pleasure of this moment!" On that note, he sent barrages of attacks directly at Tanjiro.

"You need to think hard about the future!" Tanjiro blocked them.

"What do I care?!"

Too annoyed to deal with his stubbornness, Tanjiro grasped Inosuke's shoulders and reared his head and butts his own. "You need to... CALM DOOOOOOOOOOOWN!!!"

Zenitsu placed a hand on his forehead. "Aaaaaaahhhh! That sound! Are your skulls fractured?!"

Earth can also feel the sound caused by Tanjiro's headbutt and cringed. "That's gotta hurt!"

Inosuke took many steps back from the headbutt and froze in place. His head was hung low, making his mask slipped and fell off from his head. Tanjiro and Earth gave a good look at his unmasked face, and they didn't expect his face to be like any other.

"HUH?! A GIRL?! HUH?! YOUR FACE!" Zenitsu was beyond surprised at the boar's face.

"He looks... feminine?!" Earth said, not leaving his eyes on Inosuke.

"What the hell?" Inosuke holds his forehead that is leaking blood and looked on them. His thick, black hair reaches just past his shoulders, fading into blue at the tips and forming an unruly and uneven fringe that falls just above his eyes, puffing out before curving and thinning towards his forehead and large soft pale green eyes that goes along his feminine features.

"You've got a problem with my face or something?"

"N-No..." Earth muttered. "Nothing at all."

"You're one creepy guy, you know that? You've got such a ripped body, but there's a girl's face sitting on top of it."

"Why the hell are you staring at my face like that?!" Inosuke threatened Zenitsu.

"I-I'm not! I'm not looking at your face!" Zenitsu ran and hid behind Teruko, and earned some groans of displeasure from the male siblings.

"We don't have a problem with your face! It's quite petite, fair-skinned, and therefore attractive!" Tanjiro complimented his looks with a serious face.

"You're a corpse! Come at me!" Inosuke taunted.

"Not happening! I'm not gonna attack you anymore!" Tanjiro declined.

"You!" He pointed his finger on Earth. "We're not done yet! Fight me at your best!"

Earth shook his head. "No can do. I had enough fighting for now."

"Don't back out from a fight, you spineless coward!" He pressured on.

"Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this!" Tanjiro shifts his attention to him.

"Try head-butting me one more time!"

"Nope, I'm done!"

"I said do it! Come on!"

"You sit yourself down! Are you okay?!"

"Hey, Big Forehead and Brown Moron. Let me tell you my name. It's **Inosuke Hashibira!** Don't you forget it!"

"What characters do you use to spell that?!" Tanjiro asked.

Inosuke was taken aback. "Spell? Spell... I don't know how to read or write! That name is written on my loincloth—" Suddenly, Inosuke stopped talking and froze completely.

"Huh? What's wrong? He stopped all of a sudden." Earth wondered. _'This sound he's making. He sounds like he's gonna pass out!'_

"What's the matter?" Tanjiro noticed the silence wafting around Inosuke. The latter simply shakes slightly before rolling his eyes on the back of his head and collapsed on the ground. Foam practically flows out of his mouth and his forehead, that Tanjiro damaged it using his own, has blood engraved on it.

"Aaaaahhhh! He collapsed! Is he dead?! Is he dead?!" Zenitsu freaked out with Inosuke collapsing suddenly.

"Hold on, let me check." Earth squat down then listened intently for any signs of life coming from Inosuke. Aside from the growing foam out of his mouth, his heart is still beating and appeared to be breathing slightly.

"No worries. It's just a concussion, because Tanjiro here really head-butted him the hell out of him."

"Are you okay, Tanjiro?" Teruko asked.

"Yeah." He said, not once he sound hurt from the pain from headbutting.

"Amazing! Can I touch your head?" Teruko asked then Tanjiro merely accepted her request.

"B-BoBoiBoy... Can I ask you something?" Zenitsu approached the brown haori boy. "Look at Tanjiro. He just headbutt that wild boar like a wrecking ball and not a drop of blood from Tanjiro's head. How hard is it anyway?"

Earth shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to answer for that. "Maybe he got it from his mom? Who knows. I never got to ask him how he got his hard head."

"Tanjiro, your head is so hard!" Teruko was enthralled.

"You think so?"

Earth made a small grin. "Hehehe. Awesome!" And as if on cue, he let out a violent cough, causing him to get down on both knees. He clutched on his chest like his heart is literally about to burst out.

Everyone came to him at once. "Are you all right?!"

Zenitsu heard something behind him. It was Lightning, still unconscious from the wild boar, and he started to glow. The glow became brighter and the light made its way towards Earth and he then reverted back to his original form.

BoBoiBoy is still clutching his aching chest, the pain that his Lightning form received multiplied to a certain degree, and he collapsed without uttering a single word.

"BoBoiBoy!" Tanjiro caught him in both arms. "This is not looking good! He suffered too much damage!"

The morale suddenly turned into a full panic. Zenitsu darts his head everywhere, like he's trying to look for an easy answer to this problem. The siblings are mumbling to each other. Tanjiro watched as his best friend is breathing very heavily and looks like his life is on the line.

"He'll be all right. He just needs time to rest." Tanjiro said calmly, knowing full well his friend is going to make it through the pain.

"In his condition, he'll be unable to do anything for now." He side glanced Zenitsu. "Can I trust you to keep an eye on him?"

"M-Me?" Zenitsu points at himself.

Tanjiro nodded and pointed at the trees nearby. "That's right. Just carefully carry him over there."

Nodding, Zenitsu grabbed BoBoiBoy's arms and slung it around Zenitsu's neck and slowly walked to the trees. He placed the injured boy under the trees' shade and checking to see if there's not a single thing that would naturally cause any harm yet nothing is there, which is good.

"Also, may I borrow your haori for something?" Tanjiro said afterwards. "We might want to do something to Inosuke as well."

* * *

In his own mindscape, he's physically invulnerable. On the outside is the downside, he felt himself getting lifted by someone and gently lowering him to something. He felt like it was the work of his friend, Zenitsu, since he saw his intentions were clear to have a reliable person by his side.

_"You did it."_

There's that voice again.

_"Good job, BoBoiBoy. I knew you always have it in you."_

BoBoiBoy slowly opened his eyelids. And was met with a purplish-black void around him, a haven made for himself whenever he's passed out unconscious.

"Who's..." His voice was raspy and tired. When he raised his head up, that's when he had his eyes glued to the person that he never thought he would meet.

_"You look surprised. It's because we haven't seen each other for a long time now, have we?"_

BoBoiBoy slightly shakes his head to get rid of the sleepiness feeling resonating in him. Once he's fully adjusted, he recognized the person really well.

"F... Fang...?" He whispered.

The latter smirked. "Hey there. You still know me."

His lips quivered. "Of course... Because... I... yeah..."

Fang's eyes scanned at the Demon Slayer, former TAPOPS member, and was baffled to see how much he has changed in a span of two years.

"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You sound different, your hair got longer, you grew a growth spurt, and your hands... they look like they've gone through hell."

BoBoiBoy giggled. "Yeah, I did."

"I bet you are now popular in this new world. But still, I'll keep being more popular than you. Don't you forget it."

He sweatdropped. "Sure."

Fang then got serious. "BoBoiBoy, do you realize the situation you're in already?"

He tensed up by the seriousness in his voice. "N-Not yet, I guess. I'm still trying to figure out on how I ended up here."

"Figures. You haven't even started investigating any clues on how you got here." He stated.

"What was I suppose to do? I can't just stand around and do nothing all the time!"

"If you looked hard enough, I'm sure you'll bound to find some clues."

BoBoiBoy crossed his arms. "Easy for you to say. You're from the other side and I'm not. Plus, this world had less technology than back in our original world!"

Fang suddenly paused, making BoBoiBoy worried and stepped forward.

"Fang?"

His mouth speaks for him. "Are you really certain... that this is an alternate world?"

His heart sank at the moment. "Uhm.. That's..."

"Is that your only conclusion? Is this what you had in your mind that could possibly conjure something so farfetched?"

The other boy's hands balls into fists.

"Getting a little angry, huh? Well, let me assure you with this." He tossed something to BoBoiBoy and he caught it brashly. He opened his palm and he's surprised to see his own power watch sitting there in his palm.

"Wh-Where did you find this?!" He demands to know.

"Actually, what I tossed you isn't entirely materialized. So when you wake up, you'll find that thing no longer in your hands." Fang explained.

"But why did you throw this at me if you know that it's not real?" BoBoiBoy said with confusion in his face.

"I'm giving you a reminder."

"Reminder?" He repeated.

"Yes. Besides, how are you able to hear the beeping sound? The only technological thing that would make that kind of sound is that watch on your hands. You're hearing senses never failed once, right?"

His eyes widen. It would make total sense of how he should be able to hear it, even if it's a mile away, BoBoiBoy can still faintly hear the watch's beeping noise.

"You're right!" He exclaimed in bewilderment. "There's still a chance... There's still a chance I can find my way back home if I find it!"

Fang smiled, only for a short while and frowning after. "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

BoBoiBoy temporarily stopped cheering. "Eh?"

"Let's say you did find your power watch, then what? What would you do after that?" He tested him.

"I'll contact you guys! It's much easier that way!" BoBoiBoy quickly said without thinking any further.

"And what if it doesn't work?" Fang raised an eyebrow.

"Fang, come on. You're not helping me feel any better. Aren't you suppose to be helping me instead of being like that?" BoBoiBoy had a frown on his face and stared at Fang.

"..." Instead of a reply, Fang chose to stay silent. This made the other boy nervous. If that silence meant that BoBoiBoy must have spoke a contradiction to his own statement, he'll have to figure out another way. The silence is deafening them and BoBoiBoy decided to break the ice.

"I'll find my way back home. I know you guys have been waiting for me, and I know Tok Aba is worried sick about me. Just you wait. I'll be coming back to my world. I swear!" BoBoiBoy shouted, hoping his words reached Fang's ears. When it reached, Fang snapped up and faced BoBoiBoy directly.

"BoBoiBoy..."

He smiled. But was replaced with a grim one.

"...you're being too optimistic, confident of this whole thing. I wouldn't guarantee that you can find your way back because... because..." Fang bit his lips, afraid to say the last bits of his words from spilling.

"Because...?"

Despite being inside of his own mindscape, it felt too real to even feel all these feelings swirling up inside him. Nervousness kept bottling up and had to be revealed at some point.

"BoBoiBoy... You are—"

Before Fang can even finish, everything went white.

* * *

He snapped awake by the sounds of screaming emanating across his current spot. It was Inosuke that screamed and chasing after a scared Zenitsu to ask him to fight him.

"How did—nghh!" A sharp headache surged inside his own head and he fell over from his sitting position. He held his aching head, hoping for the pain to go away. Once it's gone, he sluggishly stood up and went his way to the group and stammered along his steps.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" Inosuke yelled.

"It's a burial." Tanjiro answered. "You help out, too, Inosuke. There are still people who were killed inside the house."

"What's the point of burying the corpses of creatures? I'm not doing that! I'm not helping out!" Inosuke rebuked. "Forget that! Fight me!"

"Can this guy even shut up for one second...?" BoBoiBoy complained, still holding his head that continues aching.

"Eh?! BoBoiBoy?!" Zenitsu stopped hugging Teruko from behind and staggered his way to him. "What're you doing? You should still be resting!"

BoBoiBoy kindly waved him off. "No worries, Zenitsu. I..." He shakes until he stumbled and lost his footing. Zenitsu managed to grab him before he could fall down. He then set him back down beside the trees and is going to look after him.

"Thanks. For once, you're kinda helping me in return for protecting you." He beamed a smile towards the blonde.

"I'm worried about you, you know? You look so pale and haven't got much rest." Zenitsu genuinely looked concern. It made BoBoiBoy feel all warm inside. He couldn't stop smiling towards him.

"Hey, what are they doing?" BoBoiBoy asked while pointing at Tanjiro and Inosuke having their moment.

"Oh, Tanjiro has the brightest idea of dragging that boar to help us do the work. And let me say this, that guy's a loon, don't you think?" Zenitsu said.

"Hm."

Tanjiro just longly stared at Inosuke for a couple of moments before saying something. "I see. You can't do it because your wounds are hurting you."

He was so way off from that. Inosuke was shocked to hear that from him and a vein appeared on his face.

"Those two are beyond help! They're both crazy!" Zenitsu said.

"Is he trying to rile him up or what?" BoBoiBoy mused and watched him intently.

"No, that's okay. After all, we all have a different pain threshold. Moving everyone who died outside that house, then burying them by covering them with dirt is a lot of work. Zenitsu and these kids and I will do our best, so don't worry! BoBoiBoy is out of commission and he needs to rest up!"

_'He doesn't know that I'm right over here, awake.'_ BoBoiBoy sighed.

Inosuke grits his teeth frustratingly so.

"You should get some rest, Inosuke."

Inosuke begged to differ, in his own way.

"Sorry to ask too much of you!" Tanjiro ended it off with a grin.

"Oh boy, here it comes." BoBoiBoy practically covered his ears.

"HUUUUUUUUH?! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME, DAMMIT! I'LL BURY A HUNDRED, NO, TWO HUNDRED OF YOUR CORPSES! JUST WATCH! I'M GOING TO BURY MORE THAN ANYONE OF YOU!" Inosuke hopped in the air and flailed like an angry, helpless child. He started getting to work and ran back inside the house in search of the dead corpses while screaming all the way.

"You didn't just use reverse psychology on him, did you, Tanjiro?" BoBoiBoy chuckled. Afterwards, Tanjiro came to check up on him and said that he was fine. Next, Inosuke came back with more dead carcasses and threw them inside the whole Tanjiro made, much to Tanjiro's scolding for disrespecting towards the dead people.

As helpess as he is right now, BoBoiBoy decided to sit this one out and have all of them do the work. He may feel like he wanted to but he needs to know his own limits when it comes to things such as this. As fair as it may sounds, it just doesn't sit right with him. He's all about getting things done.

He stared at the sky, the blue sky that always looks down on them 24/7. His earlier conversation with Fang resurfaced in his mind. He hadn't gotten much of a chance to listen to his last words before coming back into reality. But even so, the reminder of him locating his power watch still remained as his objective, make it secondary if he wanted it to be.

_'I didn't get to hear what he had to say.'_ He remembered albeit a little vaguely. _'Just a little longer. I'm gonna find it if that's the last thing I'm gonna do.'_

* * *

He sat down with the rest of them praying for the people who were unfortunately massacred by Kyogai and the rest of the demons inside the house. Meanwhile, Inosuke is running somewhere and butts his head against the tree bark.

"What is that person doing?" Teruko stopped in mid-praying to see Inosuke continuing to hit his head against the tree.

"Better not look." Kiyoshi recommended.

"Yeah." Shoichi added.

The three boys silently prayed until they heard Tanjiro's crow cawed on the sky while circling around them.

"Descend the mountain! Descend the mountain!" The crow said.

"That crow is talking!" Shoichi is surprised since it's his first time seeing and hearing the crow talk.

"Just don't think anymore." Kiyoshi said.

"Okay." Teruko said.

"All right, follow me! Follow yours truly!" The crow said.

Inosuke stopped hitting his head against the tree bark and saw Tanjiro and the whole group preparing to descend the mountain.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Inosuke asks.

"We're descending the mountain." Tanjiro responded.

"We're not done with our battle yet! Especially with you, yellow haori!" Inosuke pointed at Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"Can't you give it a break already? I'm getting sick of it." BoBoiBoy rubbed his temples to ease his stress.

"Give us a break already. And plus, you're tired, aren't you? Come on, we're heading down." Tanjiro said.

"Huuuuh!? I'm not tired!" Inosuke bent down and rushed to them. "Let's fight!"

"I feel like this is going to take forever..."

Once they have descended down the mountain, the rest of the siblings all said their gratitudes towards the Demon Slayers, minus Inosuke since he's seen butting his head everywhere to the trees.

"Hold out your hands!" The crow ordered for Kiyoshi to held out his hands and so he did. Despite him being startled, he still held it out. The crow puked out what looks like a demon repellent, much to Kiyoshi's grossed out reaction.

"That will ward off demons. You with marechi, keep that on your person!" The crow explained.

"It smells like wisteria." Tanjiro said when he smell the scent of the wisteria.

"Wisteria?" Kiyoshi said.

"It's a flower that demons can't abide. You should hold onto that." Tanjiro explained.

"Yeah. It's quite useful to have in your arsenal. It's best not to lose them on your way home, okay?" BoBoiBoy added.

"Mhm! Thank you so much!" Kiyoshi and the other siblings are going on to their separate ways. "We're truly grateful! We can get home on our own."

"Maybe we'll see each other again." BoBoiBoy waved to them farewell.

"Maybe we will! I'll even send you one of my favorite stuff as a gift!" Teruko happily said. BoBoiBoy kindly declined his gift part.

"I'm never going to get used to that guy hitting his head everywhere. Seriously, that can cause brain damage." Zenitsu muttered as he watched Inosuke slammed his head to a tree bark.

"You tell me." BoBoiBoy agreed.

"Take care, now!" Tanjiro waved them farewell and watched as they

With all that, the crow acts as their guide to their next destination. The Demon Slayers marched their way and followed down the path leading to somewhere where the crow is taking them. All in time, Inosuke eventually tagged along in their little group and that stirred up some trouble along the way.

"Fight me!" Inosuke kept pestering them to have a battle with him. "I swear I'm going to find a weak point and bring you down, losers!"

"Our names' not **loser**! I'm Tanjiro Kamado!" Tanjiro corrected.

_'If he says anything that would make me pissed, I'm gonna be throwing him in the ground.'_ BoBoiBoy had many tick marks circled around his head. Zenitsu backed off from him for seeing him so irritated.

"**Gonpachiro Kamaboko**! I'm gonna bring you down!" Inosuke formed some sort of stance against Tanjiro. Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy snorted from the newfound name he came up for Tanjiro.

_'Okay, I'll give him that. But oh boy, is his mind is that of a simpleton. Reminds me a lot as Leaf.'_ He sighed and remembered his previous element, Leaf.

"I wonder if I should train and get all of them?" BoBoiBoy cups his chin with his hand, wondering if he should obtain all of his elements even his secondary tiers and his fusion forms.

"Who the hell are you talking about?!" Tanjiro, annoyed, started an argument to Inosuke.

"That would be you!"

"No, it's someone else!"

"GAAAHHH! CAN YOU TALK ANY LOUDER!?" Zenitsu roared, making the two silent. BoBoiBoy is still in deep thinking to realize what just happened. He bumped into Zenitsu and he immediately stopped.

"Sorry. I didn't see where I was going."

Trying to blow off some steam, Zenitsu asks if he should let the two go on ahead and BoBoiBoy unknowingly agreed with it. By the time when BoBoiBoy and Zenitsu are behind the still raging duo ahead of them, Zenitsu initiated small talk to pass the time they have.

"So... uh..."

He made it awkward.

"Uhh... hey Zenitsu."

"Hey BoBoiBoy..."

An uncomfortable and awkward silence made it seem tense the more they kept themselves quiet. Not wanting that, they tell each other their interests, their hobbies, their favorite food, the places they've gone to, and such to keep the time flowing by smoothly. One thing they really have in common is instruments and they have fun chatting what they had thought in their minds.

"What is Tanjiro to you, BoBoiBoy?" Zenitsu shifts another topic between his relationship on the dark redhead.

"Tanjiro... Well." He paused to let some appropriate words enter his head. "He's a really nice person and a bit naive. He really cares a lot for his loved ones. He and I are like brothers. We traveled and been with each other for two years. You can say that nothing separates us from all the things we encountered."

Zenitsu nodded. "You say that you traveled with Tanjiro for two years?"

"Yeah."

"Where did you two meet?"

BoBoiBoy went into his thinking pose again. "We met in his hometown which is very far from here. I mean, not really at his hometown, we kinda met when he found me all injured in some snowy path."

Zenitsu noted to what he said. "You were injured?"

"I was. But don't worry." He beamed at him for a sign of comfort.

"What's in the past, stays in the past. We don't have to look back anymore because the only way to look is forward."

Zenitsu awed and kept a mental note of that. He felt like he could learn something by being around him. After their talk, they fell into silence. The only sounds around are the constant arguments of Tanjiro and Inosuke ahead of them and their footsteps.

***Beep*Beep*Beep*Beep*Beep***

There it was again. But this time, even louder. BoBoiBoy darts his head everywhere. His eyes flurries everywhere in search of the noise he picked up.

_'It sounded closer! Oh my god! Where is it!? Where is it!? Where is it!? Where is it!? Where is it!?'_

His eyes finally landed on the one thing that could possibly be the source of the sound. It came from—

"What's with this **thing**? It never stops going off with that creepy sound."

Zenitsu.

"I swear I need to figure out what this **thing** is. I can't sleep properly with this **thing** on." He went through his haori and pulled out an orange power band designed fo—

"ZENITSU! GIVE ME THAT!" BoBoiBoy snatched it away from Zenitsu and that made him startled completely. BoBoiBoy couldn't have believed it. His power watch, his lifeline, was in Zenitsu's possession the whole time.

"Whoa! What was that for?! You could've snatched my heart too when you done that!" Zenitsu had a mini heart attack.

"Zenitsu..." BoBoiBoy, in all seriousness, looked at Zenitsu. "Where did you find this thing?"

Zenitsu gulped, confused as to why BoBoiBoy went serious all of a sudden. "I found it in a middle of a pathway before I met you guys. At first, I didn't want to touch it because it's been making those sounds that I find it to be really creepy. But the back of my mind kept screaming at me to pick it up and I did as that. Is it by chance yours?"

BoBoiBoy nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, this is mine." He kept a close eye on it and even scanned all around the watch. It looked battered and some cracks were clearly displayed on the sides of the screen. The **B** logo that was once there in his watch, isn't showing. The features that was there were all on a timer, meaning, he can't access any of them, any forms of communication, contacts, or accessing his previous elemental arsenal, unless the time reached its limit.

At an angle, it looked like a regular watch.

"Anyways, sorry for almost snatching it away from you without warning. I should've known that you had it all along."

"But you clearly didn't. Well, if you had asked me about this particular thing, I would've shown you. I'd still receive the same reaction though." Zenitsu pointed out.

"My bad. Sorry." BoBoiBoy rubbed the back of his head. He kept fiddling with the watch, but the watch isn't responding with his various touches, only the beeping resounded in it. He figured it must've been a reboot. He recall one time Ochobot stated that if his power band has been making 7 consecutive beeps, it would most likely be a reboot. From what he heard, the watch made 5 beeps a moment ago.

Not to take any chances, BoBoiBoy reapplied it back to his wrist, letting himself feel the same old 15-year-old self again. The nostalgia was short lived but the feeling stayed.

"You called that a watch, right?"

"Yeah."

"But it looks kinda bulky, and really advanced for me to read the time. What buttons do you use to press it?"

"I don't know. I think it needs time to make itself go back to normal." He believed that to be the case.

"Hey! You two!" They heard Tanjiro yelling. "You're lagging behind! C'mon!"

BoBoiBoy put his hand near his mouth. "Yeah! We'll be right there with you!"

"Come on. Let's not keep them waiting any longer." Zenitsu walked with a steady pace, BoBoiBoy soon followed. It's best for him to fiddle around with the watch later, seeing as he is going nowhere if keeps messing with it any longer.

* * *

Night time had broke. The full moon illuminated brightly in the night filled sky. Their destination stopped to a house with a wisteria family crest plastered on the gate's entrance.

"A wisteria family crest..." Tanjiro looked at the logo.

"Rest time! Rest time! Since you've sustained injuries, you're to rest until you're fully recovered!" Tanjiro's crow announced.

"Oh yes! Finally! This is what we deserved after a long day!" BoBoiBoy felt all of his worries wash away by hearing the good news. Suzume bounced up and down on his palm, sharing his enthusiasm.

"You sure it's okay to rest? I just fought a demon while injured, you know." Tanjiro was unsure.

"Are you crazy, Tanjiro? You still want to keep going with those broken bones of yours?" BoBoiBoy cannot believe what he just heard.

"Ke-ke-ke." The crow spoke in its bird language.

"_Ke-ke-ke?_" Tanjiro repeated, not knowing what the crow meant.

"Let's eat this thing." Inosuke suggested and pulled the crow by its feather.

"What?!" The crow said frightened.

The gate opened to reveal an old woman. "Yes?"

"Ah! Sorry to bother you so late at night!" Tanjiro excused.

"A monster! It's a monster!" Zenitsu cried out.

"Hey you!" Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy said.

"Who the hell are you?" Inosuke walked up to the old woman. Tanjiro stared at him in disbelief while BoBoiBoy watched on with wide eyes.

"I see you're a demon hunter." The old lady bowed down to show her respect.

"You look pretty weak." He said while poking her hair wrapped in a bun.

"HEY!" Both boys yelled for seeing Inosuke being rude to the elder woman.

"Come in." She gestured for them to come inside her household. They entered the front yard and followed the old lady in front of them.

"That old lady sure walks fast!" Zenitsu peers his head to see the old lady. Inosuke in the background looks at his surroundings randomly.

"You okay? You sound so terrified with her around." BoBoiBoy picked up a weird sound coming from Zenitsu.

"I'm not okay. I don't wanna talk about it." Zenitsu held his hands together. BoBoiBoy chose not to push the topic further. It's a subject for another day.

"This is where you'll be staying." The old lady said and led them to a room with neatly folded kimonos. "A change of clothes."

Another room she led them to is a place where they can eat. "And here is your meal."

"SHE HAS TO BE A MONSTER, GUYS! THAT OLD LADY'S A MONSTER! SHE'S SO QUICK, IT'S EERIE! SHE'S A MONSTER! A MONSTER HAG—" Tanjiro shuts him up by bashing his fist in Zenitsu's neck.

_'It sounds like he went through a traumatic experience with some old people he knew.'_ BoBoiBoy thought.

The boys sat on their knees, sans a certain boar, and ate their meals respectively. Inosuke just kept munching his food using his hands.

"Use your chopsticks." Zenitsu suggested but Inosuke didn't listen. He grabbed another bite and looked at both Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy with an intentional smile and laughed. He later grabbed one of their food and ate it as soon as he grabbed it then made a taunting face at them. All of them looked at him with weirded-out reactions.

_'Yeah, I'm not falling for that one, Inosuke. You gotta try a lot harder than that.'_ He wouldn't let Inosuke get the better of him by that action alone. He continued to eat his meal in proper silence.

Tanjiro, oblivious or pretending to be naive, grabbed his own food in a bowl, and offered it to Inosuke. "If you're that hungry, you can have this, too."

Inosuke expected for Tanjiro to act all annoyed and would probably lash out on him but he got a different outcome instead. He screams in annoyance as steam lets out of him.

"Here."

"NOOOOO!"

_'He's totally forgotten about the box! Gimme a break, you thug! Moron! Eyelashes!'_ Zenitsu thought.

Once they're done with their meals, they are ready to go to their next room, which is for them to sleep in. They opened the door to reveal the old lady from before.

"Your bedding." She offered the four their separate beds.

"THERE SHE IS! THE MONSTER HAG—" Tanjiro smacked him on the head again.

"She's not a monster, what do you mean?" BoBoiBoy wants to know why he called her a monster.

"First come, first served!" Inosuke plopped down on a bed and claimed it as his own. "I'm taking this one!"

"That's fine. Sleep wherever you want." Tanjiro only smiled. Inosuke ticked again.

"Where do you both want to sleep?" Tanjiro asked them.

"I'll go for the furthest one." BoBoiBoy pointed at the bed closest to the wall.

"Uhh..." Zenitsu is still deciding which bed he'll choose. However, Inosuke shrieks and threw a pillow directly at Zenitsu's face, doubling him over.

After choosing their beds, the old lady had them checked out with a doctor she brought over. The doctor checked for their pulses on their chests one by one and handed them the results. Apparently, every one of their ribs were cracked proportionately. The doctor left and the boys were in their beds to close off the night they had.

"Who would've guess that all four of us had broken ribs?" Zenitsu talks about their injuries. Zenitsu only has 2 broken ribs, 3 for Tanjiro, and 4 each for BoBoiBoy and Inosuke.

"This knot hurts more than my ribs." Inosuke revealed his forehead to show a big red lump formed by Tanjiro's headbutt.

"Wow. You bashed him really hard, Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy whistled.

"Sorry." Tanjiro apologized.

"Hey, you'd better apologize. It really hurt, you know. Getting pounded to a pulp like that even when we fought back. Say you're sorry." Zenitsu refers to Inosuke and wants an apology from him.

"I'll pass." He calmly declined.

_'Huh, he sounds so different when he speaks like that combined with his unmasked face. If only he acts like that instead of constantly shouting all the time.'_ BoBoiBoy thought and letting his whole body relax.

"Say you're sorry!" Zenitsu yelled.

"I'll pass!" Inosuke replied.

"Just say you're sorry!" Tanjiro added, wanting to get this over with.

"If you're gonna be like that, we're not eating with you anymore." Zenitsu gave him a warning.

"Huh? What's up with that?" Inosuke slightly glared at the blonde.

"Meals always taste better when you eat together, you know." Zenitsu stated.

"He's right about that." Tanjiro added.

"That is a fact. It's because I love eating food with my friends, they always taste better." BoBoiBoy commented, earning him smiles courtesy from Tanjiro and Zenitsu.

"Did you guys hurt your heads or something?" Inosuke asked cluelessly.

"Who are you to talk?!" Zenitsu angrily said.

BoBoiBoy sighed. "I can't really blame him. He barely interacts with anyone other than asking them for a fight."

"Is there something I can help you with?" The old lady asked from the outside of their room.

"MONSTER!" Zenitsu freaked out.

"HEY!" Both boys between Zenitsu scolded.

* * *

"According to the crow, this house with the wisteria family crest belongs to a family that was once rescued by demon hunters. That's why they take care of people for free if they're demon hunters. That's what I was told, but I never thought they'd show us this much hospitality." Tanjiro narrated.

"Eh? It's no wonder why the old lady decided to bring us in without asking who we are except we're demon hunters." BoBoiBoy laid there while looking at his power watch, trying to get it to work. He'd been at it for several minutes now.

"Just how great is the Demon Slayer Corps?" Inosuke said while placing both hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

"Now that you mention it, Inosuke, why did you join the Corps?" Tanjiro wants to know.

"Huh?"

"You had some kind of reason, didn't you?" Zenitsu also got curious.

"A member of the Demon Slayer Corps barged in on me on my mountain so we conpeted to see who was stronger, and I seized his sword." Inosuke explained only a little bit.

_'What an unfortunate soul.'_ BoBoiBoy and Zenitsu both thought.

"And then, I heard there was something called Final Selection and the fact that demons do exist." Inosuke stated.

"So that's why you joined the Demon Slayer Corps?" Hearing it satisfied Tanjiro's curiosity. "And hey, so you and I both grew up in the mountains, huh?"

"Don't lump me in with you and that guy!" Inosuke replied while staring at Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"Actually, I don't live in the mountains. I'm more of a city boy." BoBoiBoy shared and corrected that statement.

"I don't care." Inosuke blankly said, making BoBoiBoy sweatdrop and cried comedically.

"Unlike the both of you, I don't have any parents or siblings! Testing my strength against other living creatures is my only pleasure!" He concluded and puts on his boar mask again.

"Is that right? Is that right?" Tanjiro had fake tears in his eyes, knowing that Inosuke isn't going to be buddies with him even after sharing them as mountain boys.

And soon, everyone were silent once again. Inosuke probably had gone to sleep already, leaving only the three remaining ones awake. BoBoiBoy gazed towards Zenitsu. He looked like he wants to say something to Tanjiro with him moving his eyes at him all the time. He sat up and shook Zenitsu gently.

"You had something to say to Tanjiro, right?" He grinned at him. "Go ahead. Ask him."

He felt hesitant, somehow, but worked up the courage to ask Tanjiro on why he and BoBoiBoy are traveling with a demon.

"Zenitsu... You knew about that and still protected the box, huh? You really are a great guy, you know that? Thanks!" Tanjiro praised him.

"He is, isn't he? And also, the way he holds his own against Inosuke is such a great feat." BoBoiBoy also gave his praises towards the blonde. Hearing them praising him made him blush and cuddled up his pillow.

"You... You two shouldn't heap so much praise on me! Ahihihihi Ahihihihi!"

"Heh. You're like a child." BoBoiBoy grinned.

"I've got a keen sense of smell. I knew it from the start. How kind you are, Zenitsu... and how strong..."

"No, I'm not strong. Don't give me that." He said it as if he had no hope in himself. Tanjiro stuttered along his lines.

"You're not strong? You proved yourself you are one by standing up to Inosuke in the first place." BoBoiBoy shoved some evidence to prove his fact.

"I was confident at that time because of you. Now, I don't know if I can do that again."

"But didn't you say to me that you would believe in yourself from now on? What happened to the Zenitsu I once knew?"

He also wanted to point out that Zenitsu unleashed his breathing technique against a demon whilst falling asleep. However, if he were to bring it up, Zenitsu would less likely want to believe him and would call him a liar for deceiving him. He'll have to come up with a new way to draw out his inner personality.

Zenitsu hung his head low, thinking to what he said earlier. It's true he said, but was he ready for it? He's still mentally weak. He hoped he can bring out his confidence and bravery within him by being around them, he thought.

"Let's all get some sleep. We still have a lot of days ahead of us." BoBoiBoy said as he yawned and stretched his arms up. Zenitsu was about to go to sleep when he heard noises coming from inside Tanjiro's box. He panicked and sprang up.

"It's trying to come out! It's trying to come out!"

"It's all right." Tanjiro tried to calm him down.

"How can it be all right?! Huh?! Huh?!" Zenitsu started to yell.

"Shush! It's the middle of the night, Zenitsu!" Tanjiro continued trying to calm the panicked boy down.

"I just want to sleep..." BoBoiBoy said drowsily.

_'Why won't they take the bait? Even when I stole their food... Come to think of it, why did Big Forehead get mad a couple of times? I forgot.'_ Inosuke thought then spread his arms to the sides.

The box slightly opened, much to Zenitsu freaking out about it.

"KYAAAAAHHH! OH MY GOSH! IT'S NOT EVEN LOCKED?!" Zenitsu exclaimed. "P-P-PROTECT ME! SOMEONE PLEASE PROTECT ME! BOBOIBOY! PLEASE PROTECT ME!"

"Hey! Stop clinging onto me!" BoBoiBoy pried Zenitsu off of him, which resulted in him falling near the box.

When the box completely opened, Zenitsu eeked but until he saw a hand, that's when he loses it.

"IT'S OOOOOUUUUTTTT! I GOTTA HIDE! I'M SO SCARED!" Before he could hide himself inside a closet, Nezuko went out of the box while staring at Zenitsu.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro smiled upon seeing her.

"Good evening, Nezuko." BoBoiBoy greeted her with a smile while rubbing one of his eyes.

Nezuko begins to slowly grow herself back into her original height in just a matter of seconds. Zenitsu watched on with wide eyes. Once Nezuko reaches her normal height, her beauty sparkles in Zenitsu's eyes, making him react in a shocked manner.

"Huuuh?" Inosuke watched her do her thing then stretched his arms. "That's too much thinking." He went to sleep afterwards.

"Zenitsu... Nezuko's my—"

"Tanjiro..."

Zenitsu is shadowed by a yellow light within him. Electricity flows within him as well as it sparked in his whole body.

"Listen to me." He said with a low tone.

"Z-Zenitsu?" Tanjiro nervously stared at Zenitsu.

"This isn't good..." BoBoiBoy continued to watch.

"Listen to me." Zenitsu's eyes were fully round and had veins, making him terrifying to look at. "Just who do you think you are?!"

"Okay. I'm not gonna be involved." BoBoiBoy said and kept silent.

"So, you've been traveling with a girl this cute? With a girl this cute in tow, day after day, you've been traveling, and you've been on cloud nine the whole time, huh?" Zenitsu balled his hands into fists.

"Zenitsu, it's not like—"

"GIVE ME BACK ALL THE BLOOD I SHED!!!" Zenitsu yelled in an outburst. "I... LISTEN, I... I DIDN'T GIVE IT MY ALL JUST SO YOU COULD SPEND TIME IN LA-LA-LAND, MAKING OUT WITH A GIRL! THAT'S NOT WHY I ALMOST GOT PUMMELED AND KICKED BY THAT WEIRD BOAR, RIGHT?!"

"Zenitsu, calm down! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?!" Tanjiro held out hs hands.

"DEMON SLAYER CORPS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU'D JOIN FOR FUN! GUYS LIKE YOU GOTTA BE PURGED! IMMEDIATELY!" Zenitsu raged.

_'Hehe. Wait 'til he hears that Nezuko is actually Tanjiro's sister.'_ BoBoiBoy thought with a mischievous smile.

"Come to think of it, there's also the crime of thwarting my marriage earlier and I can never imagine what would happen if it weren't for you guys." Zenitsu grabbed his sword out of nowhere then slowly draws it out. "PURGED IMMEDIATELY! DON'T EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE CORPS!"

"Good night, guys." BoBoiBoy wouldn't rather be in their little circle and decided to sleep it off for the night.

"A GUY LIKE YOU! A GUY LIKE YOU!" Zenitsu rampaged around the room, trying to attack Tanjiro.

"ZENITSU, CUT IT OUT!" Tanjiro pleaded for the blonde to stop.

"MOCK THE DEMON SLAYERS CORPS... AND YOU'LL GET SENT TO HELL!"

_'What a fine night this turned out to be...'_ BoBoiBoy sarcastically thought then buried his head inside of his own pillow, trying to doze off and muffle the noises they're making. He felt Nezuko sitting down next to him and she laid her head on the pillow.

_'I can't... breathe...! Nezuko!'_ He flailed his arms but Nezuko didn't budge for one second. She gave one of her eye-smiles at BoBoiBoy.

"YOU SHALL FEEL MY WRATH!"

* * *

**I made it. Phew. I had much fun writing it because of the lockdown we have in my city and I couldn't do anything about it. I'm just taking my time doing this chapter and what do you know? It reached 8k words for just a single chapter!**

**The rest is just going to be nifty, well, it kinda depends. But let's see where I'll lead this story into.**

**Good news is, BoBoiBoy finally found his power watch! The issue for this is that it couldn't activate for a reason.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see y'all in the next one.**

**~ ja ne :)**

**Scrapped scene:**

/Inosuke: Fight me! I swear I'm gonna find a weak point and bring you down, losers!

/Tanjiro: My name's not "loser"! It's Tanjiro Kamado!

/Inosuke: Gonpachiro Kamaboko! I'm gonna bring you down!

/Tanjiro: Who the hell are you talking about!?

/Inosuke: That would be you!

/Tanjiro: No, it's someone else!

/Zenitsu: GAAAAAAHHH! CAN YOU TALK ANY LOUDER!?

/BBB: And for your information, Inosuke, I'm BoBoiBoy!

/Inosuke: ...

/BBB: ...

/Zenitsu: ...

/Tanjiro: ...

/Inosuke: **Rizal Bin Ismail!** I'm gonna bring you down!

/BBB: ***TRIGGERED*** MY NAME'S NOT RIZAL!!!


	16. Elemental Training: Fire and Water

BoBoiBoy woke up, yawned, and did a few stretches to not get any sore spots on his body. He sat up on his bedding and had bed hair. Reason why he is a mess right now is the antics Zenitsu and Tanjiro pulled off last night. Inosuke was a heavy sleeper so he didn't have much problem sleeping despite the running noises. They eventually cleared up a misunderstanding and Zenitsu genuinely felt bad for lashing out on Tanjiro for being such a dunce for not realizing Nezuko is his sister.

"Good morning, BoBoiBoy." Tanjiro was the first to greet him a good morning. With a simple wave, he greeted him back and stood up.

"Good morning, Tanjiro. What's up?" BoBoiBoy asked, with no objective in mind.

"Nothing. Just taking my time to relax once in a while." Tanjiro let out a soft breath. "It's not every day you get to rest your body after a long day's work."

"Yeah. You country boys are really productive and I get tired really easily. Let me tell you, being in a city makes your mind wander into different things and it can affect your body." BoBoiBoy shared his experience being in a city.

"Is that so? Well, I have no idea considering I don't like being around tall buildings. Sorry. Not my forté." Tanjiro admitted.

"Well it's okay. At least I know you don't like crowded places."

He then looked around the room for a bit and see no signs of the other two boys in sight. "Where are they?"

"Zenitsu is outside. Inosuke, well, he's doing his own thing." Tanjiro rubbed the back of his head.

"I see. Well. I'll check up on Zenitsu first. Wanna come with?"

Tanjiro shook his head. "I'm okay. I just need to take a load off of things for a minute. And besides, you and Zenitsu seemed to have gotten along well."

"You knew about it?" BoBoiBoy sounded surprise.

"I can smell a strong bond between you two. Despite only yesterday, you two were really close." Tanjiro flashed him a smile. It was infectious to look at. BoBoiBoy returned the same gesture.

Later on, BoBoiBoy slid open the sliding door leading to the outside of their room they were just in. His initial whim is to locate Zenitsu and check up on him and following Inosuke. He felt hesitant to go after the latter much less than the former. He rather prefer to be ones who are less violent, although Zenitsu can be more violent when he's provoked by something.

He found Zenitsu right away. He's sitting on the porch and BoBoiBoy joined him.

"Oh. Hey BoBoiBoy." Zenitsu noticed him quickly because of his enhanced hearing.

"Hey Zenitsu. You look down about something. Did something happened?" He asked regardless. He knew that he felt guilty for assuming Tanjiro and Nezuko are together when in fact they are siblings.

"Last night was very stupid of me to do after I accused Tanjiro of him and Nezuko-chan together."

"You did cause a ruckus, both of you might I add Tanjiro. I didn't get a good night's sleep after that." BoBoiBoy said. His eye bags are proof.

"Sorry about that." Zenitsu apologized. "Anyways, look at the scenery around here. It's been a while since I've seen anything this peaceful." Zenitsu relaxed while listening to the birds chirping in the morning.

"You and me both." He said then he sat down next to Zenitsu, joining him in his little activity of listening to the chirping birds and the gentle breeze that flew past here.

'Ah, that's right!' He had forgotten about his power watch. He was disappointed to know it's still rebooting. How long has it been this way, he thought. He can't determine when it started.

"Can I ask you something?" BoBoiBoy asked. "When did you find my watch?"

"Eh?" Zenitsu didn't expect this question. "I think it's like a few days ago before I met you guys at the fields. Like I said, I didn't know what it does and I got curious when it made that sound. So I picked it up and well, you know the rest."

"Did you do anything to it? Like have you touched anywhere on this thing?" BoBoiBoy pushed more questions at him.

"I didn't. I was nervous because of those weird stuff that watch made and I didn't dare to mess with it again." Zenitsu answered with honesty seeping in his voice.

"Okay. If you say so." He ended and not questioning the weird stuff he mentioned.

After a few minutes of taking in the scene, Zenitsu stood up and saying they should have breakfast. Soon, everyone rounded up so they can eat together. Inosuke is doing his usual routine of stealing the others' meals while they try to not tick themselves off since it's what Inosuke is intending to do. After their breakfast is finished, BoBoiBoy went out to get some fresh air.

"Now let's see." He fiddled around his watch for any signs of it working. So far, it's just only the sparks that has been enveloping the watch's screen for quite some time. For some reason, he couldn't activate his previous powers or do the Elemental Split with the watch anymore.

He can't just give up because of it. All of his questions that will remain unanswered after all these past few years, will finally be solved if he can manage to get his watch to work again. After many unsuccessful attempts in getting it to work, he let out a frustrated sigh. He isn't a technician or an expert of gadgets. He just know his way around them, minus of lack of knowledge on anything revolving around really advanced technology.

_'If my watch can't let me change into my elements, I'll do it myself.'_ BoBoiBoy puffed. He now proceeds to step out of the porch and enter the yard where he can focus on training himself again.

**"Elemental Breathing! First Form! Triple Split!"**

He inhaled a large amounts of oxygen, then jumped upwards when a yellow circle appeared and sucked him in. BoBoiBoy came out again with the three iconic trio making their entrances again.

Even without using his watch to split, he can now do it using his breathing technique. He's eternally grateful for this ability.

"You guys know the drill already right?" Earth clapped his hands to signal their attention to him. "We're going to do everything we have to extract the hidden elements inside us."

Wind seemed excited to hear that and bounced joyfully around. "Yay!"

Lightning crossed his arms. "By hidden, do you refer to our second tier forms?"

Earth scratched his chin. "That's not the thing. I meant we're going to bring out Fire and Water in us."

"I see." Lightning smirk but then he realized something. "Wait a second. How would that work?"

"Hm?"

"If we want to have Fire or Water to be with us again, how are we gonna do that? Are we like basically the thing to bring them out?" Lightning needed to clear something out.

"That is my intention. I'll be counting on you guys to find the potential of harnessing their powers. Besides, Fire and Water exists within us, so does Leaf and Light." Earth told them to get the full picture.

"So this means I'll be bringing out Fire within me, and Lightning here gets Water." Wind points fingers at himself and Lightning.

"That's right." Earth nodded. "Wind will work on Fire and Lightning will work on Water."

"And what about you?" Lightning asked. "What would you do while we are gonna be busy for it?"

Earth smiled. "Do you still remember the time when we were still little kids Lightning, back at the Kokotiam when Ochobot asked us to help Tok Aba and Yaya for something?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Let that memory sink in for a bit."

He was confused when he said that, but after a moment bits of silence, he still hasn't figure out what he meant.

"I don't get it. Earth, what do—"

Earth then begins to walk away.

"Good luck. I'll be helping myself to duties. Hehehe."

Lightning is pretty sure he hears that similar line before. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he gets.

"Oh man, Lightning. You look so clueless right now!" Wind was laughing in the background, fully remembering what Earth just mentioned. It felt like a nostalgia trip.

"Eesh! What was that all about?" Lightning scoffed, much to Wind's amusement. "Anyways, what do you think we should do now that Earth entrusts us in doing it?"

"Hmmm..." Wind thought with a questioning look. "Beats me. I think we just need to do the same thing like we did last time?"

Lightning mused. "Last time? Like what?"

"Remember when we got our trial mission on Planet Volcania? That's where we got our fire powers there."

"Ah that's right!" Lightning punched his own palm. "Wait, we don't know where we can find any lava or any area that is very hot around here. And I'd like to point out that our watch isn't technically working yet so it can't absorb any elements of the environment around... yet."

Wind whined. "That sucks! Is there another way we go about this?"

Lightning rethinks. "Let's see... Uhmm... Oh, I know! What about the time when Fire was being accused as being an arsonist back then?"

Wind nodded. "Yeah. But what does this have to do with bringing Fire out?"

Lightning facepalmed. He could not believe Wind didn't remember it. "I'm talking about how Fire came into existence. It's all about our emotions that caused Fire to exist. If we can just retrace those steps, I'm sure you can do it!"

As Wind heard of this, his mouth made an "O" shape to emphasize how much he understands it. "I get it! We just need to be in an appropriate emotion and we can finally do this!"

"I'm glad we're seeing eye-to-eye now. I'll start right now while you get on with yours." Lightning planned then went to another area where it's quiet and peaceful. But before he can start, he saw Wind struggling to get into the right emotion to match with Fire's. His face is practically burning to the point it turns red.

"Stop. You'll explode if you keep that up." Lightning had his one eye open and the other close.

"I'm trying! How does Fire do that when he's trying to be mad or something?" Wind exhaled after having to hold in such a face for too long.

"I suggest you ask Tanjiro or Zenitsu for that matter. For now, I need to concentrate quietly." Lightning now completely closed off his eyelids and relaxed his posture.

"Peh. Fine." Wind pouted. He tried to locate Tanjiro and Zenitsu around the house. He eventually found them sitting in their room talking about certain topics. Earth was with them, conversing as well. Wind asked for their help on how to be angry. Both were confused but gave some tips, which turned out to be pointless because neither of them aren't tempered all the time.

"How about... Inosuke?" Earth suggested. "Listen, I know this might seem a bad idea. Actually, let's forget about—"

"Yeah! Thanks Earth!" Wind skipped out of the room, leaving all of them left to their own devices. Wind now has to find Inosuke and maybe teach him some stuff on how to be short-tempered.

Meanwhile, with Lightning, he seems to be making progress, albeit really slowly. He tries to go in the mind of Water and see what he sees in his thinking process. He tried to drain everything on the outside, but somehow, he's unable to keep himself steady and always twitch whenever he attempts to keep calm.

Lightning is a persona of BoBoiBoy's frustration and temper, unlike a certain troublemaker. He's not an Uber-patient kind of persona.

"Gahh!! I can't do it!" He gripped his head after so many failed attempts at keeping himself calm.

"Oh, what seems to be the problem, young one?" The old lady happened to pass by while walking around the household and noticed Lightning in his little struggles.

Lightning sighed. "It's nothing, Granny Hisa. I just feel a bit stressed at doing this."

She gasped. "My goodness! Aren't you getting enough rest, dear?"

Lightning shook his head as he doesn't mean that at all. "No. It's something else. I'll be fine."

"Come here, dear. I'll give you a nice massage to relax your sore body." Hisa offered him a massage, which Lightning immediately agreed. Since he's a bit sore on some parts, a massage is what he needs.

"Thank you. I'll take your offer." He flashed a smile directly at her.

* * *

"Now, where is he?" Wind spent minutes trying to find Inosuke anywhere. He almost went to the outside of the wisteria household before he spotted him near the yard.

"What's he doing?" Wind tilts his head before slowly approaching the curious boar. When he got closer, he knew what he was looking at.

"What's this thing?" Inosuke asked while poking a big brown object in front of him. Wind giggled.

"That's a vase, Inosuke." Wind said with a smile.

"A vase? What does it do?" Inosuke scratched the back of his head, even if it's just his mask he's scratching.

"Well... Nothing. It's just an object." Wind deadpanned. "Hey, Inosuke. I wanna ask—"

"I'm gonna smash it!" Inosuke raises his fist and almost smashed the vase. Wind held his arm before he can even swing it down.

"What are you even thinking of destroying it?!" Wind exclaimed. Inosuke brashly squirms his grip off of him and goes for it again.

Wind got in there just in time to block his punch from trying to break the vase. "C'mon man! What will Granny Hisa think about you smashing the vase?!"

Inosuke clicked his tongue before going around and tried to smash anything he sees. Wind wouldn't want him to have his fun as he also goes around and prevents Inosuke smashing anything.

"You're really starting to piss me off!" Inosuke spat at Wind.

"If you want them, then you'll have to go through me first!" Wind glared at the boar once again. He had no idea why he even tagged along. All he does is provoking them to try to rile them up and fight him.

"That is fine by me!" Inosuke used his old tactic of attacking Wind using low-based attacks again. Having recognized the pattern already, Wind utilized his martial arts movements to disable his attack pattern.

In Wind's observation, Inosuke hasn't planned anything to throw in his punches and kicks. He only rapidly throw them at any random open spots he can find. That's when he realized that Inosuke doesn't have the combat knowledge to successfully land a hit on Wind. Although, his flexibility and fierce strength makes up for his lack of intelligence.

In other words, Inosuke lacks any combat experience at all.

"Stop it!" Wind repeatedly blocked any of his attacks. Inosuke jumped then pounced on him while giving him a beatdown. Wind is taking all the hits, but that's when his endurance is put to the test. He can barely handle any of his punches that connects to his face.

"Stop! Enough already!" Wind started to get angry and tossed Inosuke off of him. "Can you calm down for a minute!?"

"Hahahahaha!! C'mon! I wanna see you tussle against the almighty Inosuke!" He boasted once again and proceeded to rush at the wind elemental.

"I said stop it!" Wind evaded his attack pattern with ease. Inosuke gets frustrated every time he dodged his punches so he switched it using his legs and kicked Wind without him realizing. He tumbled backwards but got back up again and jabbed Inosuke multiple times on the abdomen, that caused him to spew out saliva underneath his mask.

Wind stopped to take a breather. "Okay... time out... I need... a moment...!"

Inosuke, using foul play, shoved Wind, making him fall down to the ground, while giving him punches left and right to the face.

"What's wrong!? Aren't you going to fight back!?" Inosuke said while attacking his downed opponent. "If you're not gonna attack, then I'll keep doing this to you until you will!"

Wind now had a bloody nose and bruises with all of the fists making contact on his fists. He struggled to get Inosuke off of him when he felt his strength slowly fading. This kind of training turned out to be some kind of brawl between a wild boar and an injured person. With the former giving the latter another one-sided beatdown like yesterday.

Wind's body began to heat up.

"GET AWAAAAAAAY!!!"

With one might roar, Wind immensely pushed back Inosuke as much force as he can muster. Inosuke fell back, smashing an object behind him in the process.

"You... You'll pay for that!!!" Wind yelled, with an expression that spelt anger and it was also written all over his body. Smoke began rising out of him. His bangs foreshadowed his facial expression.

"I'll get you for that!" Inosuke leapt forward and went straight for a punch at his face. This time, Wind blocked it using one hand. While at the same time slowly crushing Inosuke's hand, making him cry out in pain.

With him stepping back, Wind is undergoing a different change. His normal sky blue eyes. They unnatural turn into shades of orange and red. His outfit, his Demon Slayer outfit, had a slight different color pattern, retaining the same design but only with a hint of a reddish-orange hue plastered on it. His haori changed from sky blue into flaming orange. The patterns are imbued with flames as well.

"I am..." He flexed and stanced. "**BoBoiBoy Fire!**"

Inosuke witnessed the instantaneous change. With his enhanced sense of touch, he felt the air around him becoming humid all of a sudden. Sweat poured down all over his body, even he's sweating inside of his mask and makes it harder to breathe.

"Let me show you what's it like to be beaten down!"

Fire takes the initiative and gave Inosuke a hard punch to the head, making his mask fall off in the process. Inosuke did a handspring, hoping it would damage Fire. The latter relied on his instinct to move out of the handspring attack and elbowed Inosuke at his sides, doubling him in great pain.

Although Fire isn't done there yet. Even if he can't cast any powers, he can still utilize his **Total Concentration Breathing** without his sword on his grasp. With one sharp inhalation of air entering his lungs, Fire sped in inhumane speed, catching Inosuke off guard. Inosuke tried detecting Fire using his vibrations Fire created by his movements. He swerved and avoided Fire's axe kick and Inosuke followed up by a roundhouse kick, which Fire immediately ducked down then leg swept Inosuke off the ground. Fire's fist connected to his chest while he's down, and the ribs that was once cracked reinforced the pain.

Inosuke let out a scream of pure anguish. That pain surged onto his body and he is now rendered immobile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" Fire said with an angry look and with a tone full of venom. And as on cue, everyone ran out to the front and saw what the commotion was all about. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Earth were surprised to see Inosuke lying on the ground, clutching his aching chest.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro ran up to Inosuke and checked for any more broken bones with a worried expression.

"What's going on here?!" Zenitsu was panicking the moment he heard all the noise they're making.

Earth darts his eyes around and saw little embers erupting everywhere. Some objects and plants were destroyed into little pieces and beyond repair. As soon as his eyes landed on the other BoBoiBoy, he quickly recognized the culprit.

"F-Fire?!" Earth couldn't hide his baffled expression. "Is that you?!

Fire just only stared at Inosuke with an intense face, not bothering to look at Earth or anyone at all. Judging by the growls Fire is making, he's really pissed off at the boar.

"Hey uhh... Fire?" Earth cautiously placed his hand on Fire's shoulder, resulting in a violent reaction.

"WHAT?!" Fire's boiling face snapped at Earth. He recoiled back and Zenitsu almost ran back into the house by seeing him shout.

"It's alright. It's all over now. You can calm down now."

Earth stepped forward towards Fire, while making grunting noises, and placed his hands at his shoulders and gently giving him a massage. Fire suppressed his raging aura then succumbs to the soft sensation of Earth's hands caressing his shoulders in a steady pace.

"Now are you done?"

Fire glanced up. "Oh, I'm super." He gave him a toothy grin. "Thanks for calming me down."

"Don't mention it. But we should take care of your wounds and Inosuke right now! I mean look at you!" Earth cupped Fire's face and examined it really closely.

"I'm fine." Fire whined like a child. Earth isn't having none of it.

"No can do. You need more treatment." Earth scolded. Fire pouted.

"Fine."

Tanjiro carried the unconscious Inosuke by the arm and all of them are ready to get back at the house. But before they can enter, they see another person that Earth and Fire hadn't see in a long time.

"Ah there you are." Hisa is right beside him. "While I was massaging him, he just suddenly turned blue and just turned into someone else. Do you know who he is?"

Earth and Fire were basically the most bewildered people around this entire room. The person they weren't expecting was right in front of them, and replaced Lightning with an entire new persona.

"Hi." He responds with just a simple wave with a calming smile on his face. He looked laid back and his aura exhibits a calm ocean wave.

"Water?!" Both of them exclaimed. Tanjiro and Zenitsu were confused as to what's going on.

"Hey guys. It's been a while. A long while might I add." He said with a soft chuckle. "And yeah, this is me. I am... **BoBoiBoy Water**."

"I cant believe it's really you!" Fire is the first to jump at him and tackled him in a crushing hug. Water let it happen as he stood there, taking in the hug like his life depends on it.

Earth did a quick scan on Water's appearance. What he sees is no longer Lightning but the entirety of a new BoBoiBoy. His still had the Demon Slayer outfit only it has a cyan blue hue to it. His haori was changed into cyan blue as well and the patterns are similar to _The Great Waves off Kanagawa._ His eyes are a matching ice blue.

"Now that we're almost complete, can we have lunch now? I'm hungry." Water rubbed his stomach with his hand.

"Now don't you worry. I'll prepare you all a nice meal. In the meantime, I'll be taking care of you and your friend here." She refers to Fire and Inosuke since they're the only two that were injured from their previous fight.

Soon afterwards, Earth immediately merged back into the original and received Fire's wounds for it. She took care of their injuries and left them to the boys' care for her. Just then, Tanjiro asked what was it about and BoBoiBoy explained it was all for the intention of bringing out his remaining elements resting inside of him.

"You mean, you have more breathing techniques!?" Tanjiro placed a hand on his mouth of how baffled at this new revelation.

"I think so. I still need more practice for my other two newest forms. I just acquired them recently." BoBoiBoy scratched the back of his head and ate his lunch prepared for them all.

"Don't worry. We'll be here for a while until our wounds heal completely." Zenitsu said while eating his meal. Inosuke, surprisingly, woke up from his unconscious state and grabbed his own lunch and stomped outside.

"Looks like someone is salty." Zenitsu commented.

"I think I went too hard on him." BoBoiBoy felt bad for knocking Inosuke down even if he's the one that attacked him in the first place.

"You should apologize to him. Otherwise he'll just keep pestering you if you don't. And I don't want to imagine a more violent Inosuke around here." Tanjiro said.

"That guy is already more violent than he ever was after he joined our little group." Zenitsu shivered, still remembering yesterday's events that transpired.

BoBoiBoy downed his lunch real quick and went to go after Inosuke, who is outside and eating his meal with no care in the world. BoBoiBoy just watched him eat and not bothering to look at him.

"What do you want?" Inosuke roughly asked while his back is turned and eating his lunch.

"Inosuke... Uhmm... I'm sorry about earlier."

This made Inosuke paused at his meal and side glanced at him. "Huh?"

"I went out of line and almost made your injuries worse because of me. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say here and that's me apologizing to you. It's okay. You can scream at me all you want if that makes you feel any better. But also, I can't have you breaking any other people's property. So for what happened is clearly our fault. And, I'm sorry for almost breaking your body like that."

BoBoiBoy rubbed his arm and apologized, even if Inosuke was the main reason this started.

He expected a form of negative reaction from Inosuke, but it's a whole different one to be exact. The apology left Inosuke temporarily speechless. Cotton balls started to float near Inosuke's head and stared at BoBoiBoy with a look of curiosity and wonder plastered on his person.

_'H-Huh?'_ BoBoiBoy slightly tensed up by how much Inosuke is giving him that look. _'Why is he looking at me like that?'_

Not wanting to stay here any longer, BoBoiBoy cleared his throat to avoid any more awkward silence. Inosuke snapped and stormed off to somewhere, leaving steam behind him as he did so.

"What was that all about?" BoBoiBoy shrugged his shoulders, not understanding the boar at all.

"How did it go?" Zenitsu peered his head beside the door frame. "Where's he going?"

"I... don't know." BoBoiBoy couldn't find a better answer.

The whole afternoon was spent with the whole Demon Slayers conversing with each other. Next, another training session was held by Earth for Fire and Water to take a gander of their newly built forms. They're not in the same level experience in terms of their breathing, mostly Fire. Water didn't need to have to train as he already got down with the Water Breathing techniques from weeks ago of BoBoiBoy training. He didn't use any of them until now.

Fire had trouble mastering his own breathing, which he calls it as **Fire Breathing.** It requires lots of focus to be able to conjure one perfect strike. But with enough practice, he'll be able to control it if he's tactical and preservative. Right now, Fire and Water are sparring each other to see who'll overpower the other.

"Alright you two! That's enough!" Earth told them to stop. Their attacks were nearing their faces until they stopped for a split second they immediately halted their attacks that almost made contact to their faces.

"I almost had you if he hadn't called it." Fire smirked, letting his pride take over.

"I can turn the tables around if I wanted to." Water returned the same gesture.

When their training was over, BoBoiBoy retreated inside the house and cleaned himself up after that. Unbeknownst to him, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were secretly watching him train in silence the whole time.

"That's amazing! He still has more in store than I can imagine!" Tanjiro said with sparkling eyes after watching him train.

Zenitsu and Inosuke were too in heat of the moment after witnessing him training. Soon, they all went inside of the house, except Inosuke who stayed outside and sat down on the porch.

* * *

Dusk is closing in. The inhabitants in the household were all doing their small activities, sans a certain boar. Meanwhile, Tanjiro's box opened to reveal Nezuko coming out of it. She mumbled continuously then she stood up back in her normal height.

"Nezuko-chan!" She heard Zenitsu calling out to her and turned her head towards his voice.

"Nezuko-chan!~" Zenitsu swayed from side to side while being smitten on Nezuko.

"Hm?" Nezuko blinked and stared blankly at the blonde, not knowing who he is or why he's acting like that.

"I think this is what's called _Love at First Sight?_" BoBoiBoy quietly said.

He watched as Zenitsu slithered his way towards her, earning a surprise moment from Nezuko. He then chased after Nezuko around the room all romantically and such, like two children playing.

"Nezuko-chan!~ Nezuko-chan!~"

Zenitsu closed in on Nezuko but Tanjiro blocked his way while spreading his arms.

"Zenitsu! Stop following her already!" Tanjiro said.

Zenitsu considered his words but swept them off.

"Tan... ji... ro!" He hummed his name in syllables. He took hold of Tanjiro's hands and that caused him to creep out from his action.

"Let's be friends, Tanjiro!" Zenitsu began running after the Kamado siblings in a circle.

"Zenitsu! Don't keep chasing us! I beg you!"

"Oh, don't be like that, Tanjiro!"

"Nezuko-chan! Tanjiro!"

"Stop!"

They went on for a while now.

"Hehehe! Awesome!" BoBoiBoy thoroughly enjoyed their little antics and went outside for some fresh air. He sees Inosuke sitting down then his stomach rumbled.

"Man, I'm hungry." Inosuke stared down at the ground.

"Me too. I'm quite famished." BoBoiBoy rubs his stomach.

"Pardon me, my dear." Hisa approached them while holding two folded kimonos on her hands.

"Those clothes you're both wearing are quite soiled, I see. I'll clean them for you, so please wear these in the meanwhile. These are pleasant to the touch and quite comfortable." She gave the kimonos to BoBoiBoy and have them hold them for himself.

"Thank you very much." BoBoiBoy accepts the clothes, while Inosuke stared at her with cotton balls floating near his head again.

'I guess he's happy whenever he's in that state..' BoBoiBoy thought then his stomach began to growl, and he blushed at this almost embarrassed moment.

"How does tempura for dinner sound? You know, something covered with batter and fried." She said. BoBoiBoy drooled at the sounds of it and couldn't wait for dinner any longer. Afterwards, he and Inosuke went somewhere to change their clothes.

Meanwhile, Zenitsu and the Kamado siblings were still chasing each other. "Hey, wait up! Come back here, Nezuko-chan!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Inosuke wildly opened the doors and the only thing he does first is headbutting Tanjiro's back.

"I tried to stop him! I did!" BoBoiBoy panted.

"Wh-What was that for?" Tanjiro rubbed his back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" It wasn't an answer but that's his response. Inosuke started chasing after Tanjiro and Zenitsu trying to stop Inosuke. They chased each other in a circle.

"HOLD UP, HOLD UP! STOP CHASING US, INOSUKEEEEEEEEEEE!" Tanjiro pleaded for him to stop.

"TANJIRO!" Zenitsu cried out.

"Can you believe this, Nezuko?" BoBoiBoy rubbed his own head before joining her side.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Nezuko hugged him from his side, which he didn't expect at all.

"H-Hey... Missed you too." BoBoiBoy gave her a grin and hugged her back with the boys running in the background.

"Nezuko, next time, don't lay your head on top of mine, okay?"

* * *

**And that concludes another chapter! It's not a continuation for the story but more like an OVA, even though it's not really an OVA but think of it as one.**

**And furthermore, BoBoiBoy now recovered his two "new" elements, Fire and Water. I hope I portrayed them of how they should act. Because if not, then I'll leave it there.**

**That's all there is to it. See you all in the next one.**

**~ ja ne :3**


	17. Mount Natagumo

A few days had passed ever since their last mission at the tsuzumi mansion. The doctor visited the wisteria house once again and had them check up for their injuries. The results were positive and they're fully healed. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy were ecstatic to hear that less than Zenitsu and Inosuke. The doctor soon left and the boys were doing their thing.

These few days were an accomplishment to BoBoiBoy's training of his elements. Even if he's not physically recovered from all the training, he still practiced his mental state. In some fighting mechanics, the only aspect of being strong is not just physical but the mentality of one's being. Having a strong emotion will yield many results, depending in a battle.

Zenitsu is seen holding flowers while kneeling down near Tanjiro's box where Nezuko is currently inside at the moment.

BoBoiBoy knelt beside him and whispered. "What are you doing?"

That startled Zenitsu slightly and composed himself. "I'm gonna confess my feelings towards Nezuko-chan."

He chuckled. "You know, you should wait for that when the sun is not on the sky. After all, she is a demon."

A squak from Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow gained their attention. The crow flew onto Tanjiro's hands before delivering their next mission.

"North-northeast! North-northeast! Your next mission is north-northeast! The four of you are to go to Mt. Natagumo! Head to Mt. Natagumo!" The crow said then flew away from Tanjiro and the group.

"Alright! I'm getting ready!" BoBoiBoy jumped then made his way out of the room for preparations to their mission.

"He's pretty enthusiastic about this. I wish I was the same." Zenitsu mumbled.

"He is BoBoiBoy after all. That guy sure loves adventuring." Tanjiro smiled to the direction BoBoiBoy went.

Later, they all dressed up in their uniforms and were ready to leave the wisteria household. They stopped to give their farewells to the old lady who was taking good care of them.

"We're heading out now. Thank you for everything." The boys, minus Inosuke, bowed slightly to the elder woman.

"Now then, for good luck." She then pulled out some kind of flint and steel.

_'From what I read in a book before, this is what's known as Kiribi, a Japanese tradition. It said that they ignite sparks on a traveler's back to keep them safe from harm for going on a long journey. That's interesting.'_ BoBoiBoy thought after he observed the items on her hands.

"Thank you so much!" Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, and Zenitsu turned around so that their backs are visible to her. Inosuke spectated with suspicion in his voice. She then struck the flint and steel thrice on their backs, but that action resulted Inosuke into reacting violently.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, OLD HAG?!" Inosuke raised his arm, about to attack the old lady.

"HUUUUH?! WHAT ARE YOU, A MORON?!" Zenitsu held his arms to protect her while Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy tried to hold Inosuke by his arms. "SHE'S STRIKING SPARKS FOR GOOD LUCK! IT'S A PURIFICATION CEREMONY! BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA GO ON A DANGEROUS MISSION!"

"I would've thought you knew about this, but it seems like you need to be educated, Inosuke!" BoBoiBoy commented, keeping Inosuke in check.

"Always live your lives with great pride. I wish you luck in battle!" Hisa said her last farewell towards them. They all bowed once again, sans a certain boar.

"Thank you very much for taking of us. We'll look after ourselves now." BoBoiBoy gave her a grin, which she acknowledged.

"Farewell, my dear." She will miss them.

They now began to lightly jog their way to their next mission on the northeast. Inosuke looked back once more at the old lady while thinking about the phrases she said. His head didn't rack up any meaning to what she said so he asked them.

"_"Great pride"_?_"Luck in battle"_? What does that mean?" Inosuke asked.

_'Jeez, this guy is totally clueless.'_ Zenitsu thought when he glanced back at the boar.

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it, it's kind of difficult. _"With great pride"_..." Tanjiro repeated the old lady's words.

"From my standpoint, it just means that whatever you do is how you act in general. Pride defines you as a person, and how your personality towards anything should be acted on accordingly. I think she told us to always be careful in our battles and with pride, we'll triumph towards victory." BoBoiBoy gave his opinion regarding the meaning of pride. There were many instances BoBoiBoy had let his pride get in the way of his battles. The one time when he was in his Solar form, he is deluded into thinking he is the strongest among others, a mere perfection in one's eyes. He learned not to repeat the same again.

"BoBoiBoy's right. It just means what he means." Tanjiro agreed. "And plus, the old lady is also praying for our safety."

"So, what do you usually _"act in general"_? What does _"pride defines you as a person"_?"

"Huh?" BoBoiBoy tilts his head. "Well, it's..."

"What does my personality need to be _"acted accordingly"_? Why in the hell would that old hag pray for our safety anyway? She has nothing to do with us. Then, why?! She has no clue what her own place is, does she?"

BoBoiBoy sighed. This would be the last time he would try to explain things to the slow-witted, dense boar. In his frustration, he increased his running speed, not knowing that Tanjiro matched his.

_'They sped up!'_ Zenitsu noticed.

"AAAAHHH! I WON'T GET BEAT!" Inosuke thought this was a competition and sped up trying to catch up to them.

"WAIT UUUUP!" Zenitsu is seen lagging behind due to them running ahead.

* * *

It was now night time when they arrived at Mount Natagumo. The sun had already set, giving the demons an opportunity to cast out of their shadows.

"This mountain... feels strange." BoBoiBoy felt little chills shivering on his back upon seeing the huge mountain in front of them.

"Hold up! Would you mind waiting a second?!" Zenitsu said firmly, making them stare at him in confusion.

"Zenitsu? What's wrong?" Tanjiro asked.

They all looked at the blond sitting down, circling his legs using his arms in the middle of the pathway.

"I'm scared, all right?! Now that we're nearing our destination, I'm so scared!" He cried.

"Why the hell is he sitting? How creepy is that?" Inosuke placed both hands on his hips.

"WHO ARE YOU TO TALK, PIG FACE?!" Zenitsu yelled at the boar. "Don't tell me you're not getting vibes from that mountain!"

Zenitsu pointed at the mountain and they happened to stare what he's pointing. The looks coming from the mountain is sinister and can give goosebumps to anyone's skin. Even the air felt heavy around them.

_'He's kinda right. That mountain does give off an eerie vibe... I wonder what level it is deeper in?'_ BoBoiBoy gulped while staring at the mountain with an unsure expression.

"Still, what good will it do to just sit there?" Tanjiro asked to Zenitsu.

"I told you, he's creepy." Inosuke remarked.

"Inosuke, quit telling him he's creepy." BoBoiBoy held up a defence for his friend.

"I AM NOT IN ANY WAY CREEPY! I'M NORMAL! I'M THE NORMAL ONE! YOU GUYS ARE ABNORMAL!" He exclaimed and pointed fingers at them.

"On second thought, I take that back." BoBoiBoy blankly said and sweat dropped.

Suddenly, Tanjiro smells a strange scent wafting the air. He turned towards the front view of the mountain to see it's coming from that way.

"What? What's wrong? Hey..." Zenitsu asked from seeing Tanjiro acting like that.

"What is this smell?" Tanjiro said.

"Do you feel that?" BoBoiBoy asked to Tanjiro, also feeling himself the same with his enhanced senses. Tanjiro ran off instantly and both Inosuke and BoBoiBoy followed.

"Come on! Don't leave me here by myself! Don't leave me!" Zenitsu reluctantly stood up and gave chase to the running trio.

They ran to where Tanjiro found the source of the smell. And when they stopped nearly at the entrance of the forest, they see an unknown Demon Slayer sprawled on the ground. The guy raised his head up slowly to them while letting tears fall through his eyes.

"H-Help me..." He said.

"He's got our uniform on! He's a Demon Slayer! Something must've happened!" Tanjiro said before he, Inosuke, and BoBoiBoy approached the downed Demon Slayer.

"Hold up!" Zenitsu cried out.

"Are you all right?! What happened?!" Tanjiro asked to him.

"Wait, something's wrong." BoBoiBoy tapped in to his temporary enhanced sense of sight and saw spider threads connected to the Demon Slayer.

Suddenly, the Demon Slayer is now yanked off from their spot and is flying to where the threads are pulling him.

"They were attached to me, too! Help meeeeee!!" He said before disappearing into the tree, out of their sights.

Zenitsu covered his mouth with horror across his whole face. They watched a man getting yanked by spider threads. Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy stood still, paralyzed in fear of what they witnessed.

_'He just disappeared like that...'_ Still frozen in his spot, his ears caught a vague sound resounding in the deep parts of the forest. His trembling hands kept shaking until he balled them into fists, sucking the fear in them and letting a confident face spread.

"We gotta go in there." BoBoiBoy told them. Inosuke roughly brushed him off and stepped forward.

"I'll go on ahead. You can follow me, shivering." Inosuke gripped his dual blades' handles. "This is making me hungry."

"Inosuke..." Tanjiro uttered.

"This is challenging enough for you, right?" Zenitsu resumed his position of sitting down on the ground while trembling in fear.

"HAAAHAAAAAAA! LET'S GO!" Inosuke declared before they went in the entrance of Mount Natagumo, leaving Zenitsu behind on his own.

* * *

In the depths of Mount Natagumo lays Demon Slayers caught up in spider webs and all hanging and swaying repeatedly on different trees. Either dead or alive, they were tortured enough to receive their imminent demise from these demons. A white long haired muscular man ran away from the creek, likely to have sensed someone coming. Another showed a demon lady with the same white long hair sitting on a top of a rock.

The boys marched up top to the mountain with little to no time spare. Inosuke paused for a bit as his hands caught some stray spider webs.

"What the hell is this?" Inosuke asked.

BoBoiBoy removed the webs from his hands and examined them closely and carefully. "Spider webs?"

They looked around them and realized the whole forest is partially being covered in spider webs.

"Well, it looks like we'll be dealing some nasty demons who can manage to make the forest look like this." BoBoiBoy wiped away the webs from his hands.

"Jeez, this place is full of spider webs! What a pain!" Inosuke complained.

"You're right." Tanjiro looked around for a bit then back at the boar. "Inosuke?"

"What do you want?" He asked while doing a strange gesture with his hands, like defending himself from anything.

"Thanks."

"Huh?" Inosuke dropped his guard, totally not expecting Tanjiro to thank him for something.

"You said you'd come with us and we felt encouraged. That twisted, ominous scent I was picking up from the mountain... It made me freeze a little. Thanks!" Tanjiro smiled for Inosuke's bravery into going in the mountain without any sense of fear.

"Never thought I'd say this but..." BoBoiBoy hesitated in saying his next words but he needed to let them out if he wants to get on Inosuke's good side. The better he connects with him, the less trouble Inosuke will create.

"Thanks for snapping me out my trance. I was so nervous for going in here until you made me realize there's people here in trouble. So for that, thank you." He rubbed the back of his head while facing sideways with an embarrassed face.

The confused Inosuke made noises compared to a tame pig and is in his happy state with cotton balls floating around his head. The words that they said were the same thing as what the old lady had said to him; back at the wisteria house and before they left for their current mission.

"Inosuke..." Tanjiro snapped him out of his state and held up his hand while looking at the direction he's facing. "Let's go. BoBoiBoy, with me."

"Yeah." BoBoiBoy nodded then followed Tanjiro and Inosuke. The three eventually stumbled upon another Demon Slayer, hiding behind a bush and frantically looking around for any danger or hiding from something.

Tanjiro placed a hand on top of the Demon Slayer's shoulder, making him jump slightly from the instant touch and turned around fearfully.

"We've come for backup. I'm Tanjiro Kamado, Rank Mizunoto." Tanjiro said more of a whisper.

"I'm BoBoiBoy, also Rank Mizunoto. We're here as reinforcements." BoBoiBoy introduced himself and whispered.

"Mizunoto... Mizunoto?" He couldn't believe what he just heard. "Why didn't they send a Hashira?"

"Easy, easy. What's the problem?" BoBoiBoy tried to dismiss his panicked expression but he kept rambling.

"No matter how many Mizunoto they send, it won't help! It's pointless! ***MMPHH***" After he finished, he was immediately punched in the face none other than Inosuke. The fist buried his face completely.

"INOSUKE!" The boys scolded the untamed boar.

"Shut up!" Inosuke grasped the Demon Slayer's hair and brought it closer to his mask. "As far as pointlessness goes, your existence itself has no point at all!"

"Stop grasping the guy's hair, you no-good boar!" BoBoiBoy exclaimed with plain white eyes and a tick mark on his head.

"Now, tell us what's going on, you spinless fool!" Inosuke demanded and snorted out smoke from his mask's nose.

"Who the hell is this guy?! Did you forget that I have seniority?! Th-The crow gave us the order! And ten of us Demon Slayers came here." He grabbed Inosuke's hand and tried to move it away from grasping his hair.

"What happened to the others?" BoBoiBoy got intrigued.

"Not long after we entered the mountain, the Slayers... The Slayers started killing each other! I... I..." He recalled as he remembered the rest of his squad murdering their own, without any knowledge on what instigated it.

"That doesn't sound right. What made them start killing each other?" BoBoiBoy said in a low tone. "Zenitsu, do you know what's—huh?"

Turning his head around, BoBoiBoy realized that Zenitsu wasn't with them the whole time. The reason is because he was stuck in his perpetual state of mixed emotions of entering the mountain and listening to the Demon Slayer's story.

"I thought Zenitsu was following us!" Tanjiro said, even looking for the blonde boy.

"Tch. That coward..." Inosuke added and clicked his tongue.

"Don't worry. I got it covered." BoBoiBoy stood up and goes to an open spot to use his Elemental Split once again.

"**Elemental Breathing First Form, Triple Split!**"

Symbols of earth, fire, and water were shown in the circle he casted and out came were three people in those mentioned symbols.

"Water, you'll volunteer to find Zenitsu. See if you can backtrack the way we came. Fire and I will be handling things here while you're off searching for him. Understood?" Earth commanded the water elemental and the latter nodded. He sprinted off the way they came earlier.

"What in the hell?! Is he a demon or something?!" The other Demon Slayer, still in his strong state of tension and fear, sweats immensely and backed away after seeing BoBoiBoy presenting his infamous ultimate ability.

"Hey, it's all right! It's one of his abilities!" Tanjiro attempted to calm the panicked boy.

* * *

Tanjiro's crow is seen panting for breath after a long way it flew from the wisteria house back to the Demon Slayer Corps. The crow is in the care of the master of the Demon Slayer Corps, hands gently carrying the crow with tender care.

"You did well to return." **Kagaya Ubuyashiki**, or also known as _Oyakata-sama_ to the rest of the Slayers, said in a soothing deep voice. "So, most of my children have been slaughtered?

His daughters were there keeping an eye on their father tending to the crow.

"We might find the Twelve Kizuki there, then." Oyakata hypothesized. "It seems I'll have to send in some Hashiras."

Behind the master are two people kneeling in respect at the sight of the master in front of them. One is a familiar male and another is an unknown butterfly patterned haori-wearing female.

"Giyu... Shinobu..." Even with their names being called, they understood the message he's sending crystal clear.

"As you wish!" They both said simultaneously.

"If only humans and demons could get along." Shinobu said with a smile on her smooth face. "Don't you agree, Tomioka-san?"

"Impossible..." Giyu answered in a dull tone. "...as long as demons eat humans."

Returning from the entrance on Mount Natagumo, Zenitsu hung his head low, ashamed for not bringing himself to go in the depths of the forest to go after his team.

_'I wonder if they hate me. Would you really leave your friend by the roadside? Wouldn't you talk to him through it if you were friends? If they tried to talk me into going, I would've gone, okay? Sure I would. But no, off they went on their merry way up that scary mountain. Poor me left alone... Also, BoBoiBoy is my friend, right? So why didn't he try to go back to me? I would definitely went there with him, but he chose to go after them. Is he really my friend at all?'_

Zenitsu had mixed doubts and sadness in his line of thoughts. The times he and BoBoiBoy got along back at the wisteria house, the times he trained with him to get even stronger. Were they all just lies and he did those to make Zenitsu feel better about himself? He hoped not. His hearing senses told him otherwise. BoBoiBoy is no stranger to him. No, he thought of him more as a good friend because he told him he believed in him.

And as a miracle came to him, he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching his spot. Not from behind Zenitsu, but forward.

"There you are!" A slightly familiar deep voice resounded and he came closer. "You're still here in your spot?"

Zenitsu glanced up and took a good look at who called him. His eyes widen and revealed to be Water coming back for him.

"You came back... for me?" Zenitsu softly said, stray tears in his eyes. "BoBoiBoy...?"

"First of all, I'm the water elemental version of BoBoiBoy. You can call me Water in short. My other selves are in there with Tanjiro and Inosuke." He clarified. "And second of all, listen, I'm sorry for leaving you behind like that. I just didn't think straight and head into danger without realizing it. So... I'm sorry."

His heart felt like it's going to shatter to a million pieces by how much Water thinks he still cared for him. Unable to resist himself, he leapt forward and bear hugged Water tightly.

"YOU CAME BACK FOR ME! YOU REALLY DID CAME BACK FOR ME! YOU'RE THE BESTEST FRIEND EVER!!!" Zenitsu couldn't contain his joy.

"H... Help... Help me... Can't... Breathe..." Water's face turned blue from the lack of oxygen and almost passed out because of it. Zenitsu opened his arms widely to release him from almost fainting.

"Sorry about that." Zenitsu giggled.

Water panted for air then got up. "Now, let's go."

Water tried to take Zenitsu's hand and dragged him but Zenitsu couldn't budge for even a moment like a statue.

"What's wrong?" Water asked wondering why he can't move. Somehow, he found the answer already by Zenitsu shivering from fear.

"I-I-I ain't go-going in th-th-there...!" Zenitsu clicks his teeth repeatedly. "I-It's sc-scary!"

Water sighed, even Ukogi sighed as well and flew and sat on top of Zenitsu's head. Suzume happened to appear and landed on top of Water's head.

"Chu chu chu." Suzume recommended Water something.

"You think that would work?" Water asked in an unsure tone.

"Chu!" Suzume bounced.

"Right, let's try." Water lets go of Zenitsu's hand, making him confused to why he let it go. "Hey, uhh..."

"Hm? What's the matter?" Zenitsu asked.

"You know, being scared isn't gonna help us in our situation right now. You need to face your fears if you want to prove yourself that you can be helpful to us." Water didn't think of what he said is going to help him from any sorts.

"But sometimes we let fear control us. It helps us protect from danger when we're alert. Fear is natural, and it's a great deal of using a fight and flight method to keep us safe and alive. Don't be afraid of being terrified, Zenitsu, if that makes sense at all."

Despite the meanings said, it just all come natural when there is a looming threat coming and it's alright to feel fear, depending on some situations required possible. How else would Zenitsu survived long enough to have this constant state of being scared at demons and not just standing around and do nothing about it? Running away is good, but not the best solution to every scenario.

Zenitsu had given this a better thought to himself. And decided it's best to go along with Water.

"Okay. I'll go with you." There was a slight reluctance in his voice tone but does mean he was willing to go. It's just now he has somebody along with him for company and not feel lonely.

"Great, Zenitsu." Water smiled. "I'm sure Tanjiro and hopefully Inosuke would be so proud of you."

"It's not just you, I had somebody who said that to me many times, but I won't talk about it for now." Zenitsu said in a low tone. He remembered an event that is so saddening, it would make him bawl for hours.

"But thankfully, I have you guys now; you, Tanjiro, Inosuke, Nezuko-chan, Chuntaro—AAAAAAAHHH!!!"

His sudden scream threw Water off guard. "Now what?!"

"HE TOOK NEZUKO-CHAN WITH HIM!" Zenitsu shouted then charged into the forest, leaving Ukogi, Suzume, and Water comedically watching him go.

"WHY DID HE HAVE TO TAKE MY PRECIOUS NEZUKO-CHAN WITH HIM?! DAMN TANJIRO! DON'T TAKE A YOUNG GIRL INTO DANGER! IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT! NEZUKO-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"

This leaves them completely speechless to his declaration of going into the forest. The trigger was mentioning Nezuko's name and he went in there instantly.

"That's it. I give up." Water feels like his soul is leaving him. He then immediately proceeded to follow him, along with Ukogi and Suzume flying beside Water.

After sending Water off, Earth bares on his surroundings until he hears various clicky-like noises spreading across the forest.

"Do you guys hear that?" He whispered loudly enough for them to hear.

"Yeah. What is this sound?" Tanjiro asked as he too heard it.

"There it is again." The Demon Slayer recognized it. "It's this sound again! I heard this sound, and the next thing I knew, everyone started killing each other!"

Fire listened then peers his head everywhere to the location of where the sound is located.

"Hey, what's your name?" He asks for the guy's name.

"It's Murata." Murata introduced himself.

"The sound came from that way!" Fire already pinpointed the source of the sound and pointed at Murata's left side and found more Demon Slayers approaching them like mindless zombies.

"There's a lot of them!" Fire exclaimed the obvious. All of a sudden, they started swinging their swords towards the ones who are alive. They maneuvered away from their spot and kept dodging their linear attacks.

_'Their moves... it doesn't feel natural at all...!'_ Earth squinted his eyes further and caught something attached to them. _'Wait a second... Are those threads? Spider threads?'_

"AHAHAAA! These guys are all morons!" Inosuke said as he handspringed away from being slashed. "They don't know that it's taboo for us Demon Slayers to fight each other!"

"Oh, look who's talking now!" Fire rebuked and evaded a sword jab by countering it with his own.

"No, that's not it!" Tanjiro declined Inosuke's assumption. "They're not moving normally! They're being manipulated by something!"

Earth added in. "It's the threads! If you look closely at them, you'll notice it attached to them!"

"Really?" Tanjiro focused his sights on the victims and Earth was right. Spider threads were attached to them individually. "You're right! It's the threads!"

"All right. I'm gonna slash them to ribbons!" Inosuke said as he unwrapped his swords.

"No, don't you ever do such a thing! Besides, some of them are still alive! And we can't just do more harm to their corpses! That's just cruel!" Fire remarked.

"Dammit! Stop denying me at every turn!" Inosuke gets irritated then bashed his head on Fire in the gut.

"AAGHH! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Fire yelled and is ready to tear the guy's head off.

"Enough! Murata is in trouble!" Earth dismissed their little quarrel and went to help Murata.

The latter is overwhelmed by his deceased squad's abnormal strength and was about to be killed but Earth and Fire intercepted in time to stop their movements. Tanjiro and Inosuke removed their attacks from clashing down on Murata and slammed them down on the ground. Using this opportunity, Earth immediately slashed the threads connected to them and they land on the ground with a loud thump. Fire and Inosuke made sure to slash any stray threads away from the squad and they all landed in the same fashion.

"That takes care of that." Earth polished his sword by removing the webs on it.

"Question is, who is the one controlling them?" Fire wondered. "How do we find them?"

Maybe—ughh..." Tanjiro was interrupted when he detected a foul stench spreading in the area. Not for long, spiders are crawling on his arm and threads immediately spawned out of nowhere. The threads yanked his arm before he sliced the threads off.

"Crap! We're getting attached too!" Fire exclaimed and slashed the threads connecting his arm.

"So, the spiders are the ones responsible for attaching these people to be used as puppets?" Earth said. "Then this means..."

The previous controlled squad suddenly motioned back up after the threads that were sliced off were now reattached to their bodies. Unbeknownst to them, a silver haired lady sitting on top of the rock somewhere giggled to her own amusement.

"Now then, my sweet little dolls... Dance until your arms and legs fall off." The **Mother Spider Demon** smirked and controls her threads using her fingers.

"It's not good enough to just cut the threads! The spiders are just gonna stick more puppet strings onto them! So..." Tanjiro stopped when he smell the same scent again. _'That acrid smell again! What is it anyway? It's being carried here by the wind!'_

"So, all we gotta do is kill those damn spiders, huh?" Inosuke asked.

"No, it's impossible! No matter how many times you try to kill them, they'll just keep reappearing!" Earth said as he stabbed the spiders nearing his feet. "Our best bet is to find the demon controlling this!"

Inosuke stabbed more spiders on the ground, but it's a futile attempt.

"That won't work! What did I even say?!" Earth scolded at the boar for once again not listening to him.

"Inosuke, if you have some kind of power that can pinpoint the demon's location, then help us out!" Tanjiro recommended. "This weird smell has been flowing in, and my nose isn't working great!"

"Yeah, my hearing senses are kinda useless at the moment because these guys are making such a racket!" Fire yelled before he slashed more threads at the deceased Slayer. "Hey Murata!"

"Yeah?!" Murata heard him and defended himself from the sword's swings.

"You'll lend us a hand on how we can deal with these people being controlled!" Fire ordered. "And Earth, I definitely—"

From this whole onslaught, he caught Earth staring at something above. turning the same direction as he is doing right now, he sees another demon, standing on top of some threads hanging and him staring down at them.

"Don't disturb my family's peaceful life." The boy with unkempt hair and pale skin warned them in a sinister tone.

_'Who is he? Is he floating? No, more like he's standing on those threads. What does he mean by **family**?'_ Earth thought while looking at the demon boy.

"**Mother** will kill you all right away." He said.

"Mother?" Fire repeats it.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Inosuke ran towards a Demon Slayer and used his back as a spring and jumped towards the demon boy. Although he did reached him, it's not enough reach for Inosuke to deliver his strike towards the boy. The boy was unfazed and walks away.

"Damn you! Where the hell do you think you're going? Fight me! Fight—" Inosuke fell but was caught by Earth's arms.

"You alright?" Earth asked, but received a harsh shove from Inosuke himself.

"Why did he show up anyway?" Inosuke wondered.

"No idea. But I don't think he's the demon we're looking for. We should keep trying until we find them!" Earth provided support for Tanjiro defending themselves against the Slayers. "Inosuke! Now's the time to..."

"Okay, okay, okay! I hear you all right?" Inosuke dodged an attack and sliced off the threads. "You want me to find where that demon's at, right? Shut up already, you punks!"

Inosuke planted his blades directly on the ground then begins his technique on locating the demon. He starts by going into a trance and gathering enough air to activate his technique.

"**Beast Breathing Seventh Form, Spatial Awareness!**"

Inosuke remained still and releases his technique, which created an invisible detector to scatter around. With his great sense of touch, he expanded it greatly to maximize his reach of detecting any enemies located anywhere around the mountain. His Spatial Awareness technique has already located the demon they're looking for, which is at Inosuke's left side and only a few miles away from their location.

_'That technique... So awesome!'_ Fire is astonished to see him using a breathing technique so incredible in locating demons from miles away. Fire smirked at the boar. _'Not too shabby, Inosuke.'_

"Found it! There you are!" Inosuke succeeded and told them he found the demoness.

"Great job man!" Fire fist pumped in the air.

From somewhere beyond their current location, the demon boy from earlier appeared to be standing on the threads while overlooking the forest.

"I won't let anyone get in our way." He said while doing a _Cat's Cradle_ impression of using his webs. "The five of us are going to live in bliss as a family. No one can break our bond."

* * *

**Sorry that took too long. It's just me being lazy and and unable to get a chapter done because I get distracted easily by certain stuff in my life xP.**

**More chapters releasing soon! I have nothing more to say but maybe hype up for the next one 'cause it's gonna be a hell of a time of me writing some cool scenes, if I can, anyway hehe.**

**~ Ciao, peeps**


	18. Letting Someone Else Go First

"Did you find the demon?" Earth asked while fending himself against the deceased Slayer's sword.

"Yeah! That way!" Inosuke directs his sword and points it to his left. "I'm picking up a powerful vibe from over there!"

"Great job man!" Fire fist pumped the air.

"Way to go, Inosuke!" Tanjiro praised, making Inosuke appreciating it with cottons floating on his head again. He almost had his head slashed due to him distracted and jumped away.

"We gotta take care of these guys or we'll never get anywhere!" Inosuke said while they're surrounded by all of the controlled Slayers.

"Damn, isn't there... isn't there any way at all?" Tanjiro grits his teeth and frowned.

Meanwhile, Zenitsu is heaving loads of air entering in his lungs after he sprinted from the entrance of the mountain to who-knows-where. His face strained from the fatigue he clearly gotten from all the running.

"Ne... Ne... Nezu... Ne... Whe... Whe... Wh-Whe... Whe... Where are you?" Zenitsu said with continuous pauses and while catching his own breath.

Water seemed to have lost sight of Zenitsu. Face shifting from worried to annoyed real quick, he released a sigh.

"Great. I lost him." Water said in a tired tone. "He could be around here somewhere. Good thing this part of the forest isn't dense, so I should be able to hear him shouting at any point now."

Back to Tanjiro's group, they were faced with a life and death situation.

"Dammit!" Inosuke jumps back. "What a pain in the ass! I'm just gonna demolish them all at once!

"You can't do that! Back off!" Tanjiro didn't agreed with him with the whole killing is the only option plan. "There has to be a way! So, let's try not to hurt these—"

One slayer tried to surprise attack Tanjiro, however, Murata intercepted and blocked the strike for him.

"Murata!" Earth saw.

"Leave these guys to me and go on ahead!" Murata holds off the attacker's blade and adviced them to move.

"What kind of talk is that, Mr. Pissed-My-Pants?!" Inosuke insulted Murata.

"I NEVER PISSED MY PANTS, YOU STUPID BOAR!" Murata blew a fuse and Inosuke reacted angrily. "I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, SO YOU CAN JUST SHUT UP!"

"Murata, watch out!" Fire got just in time to block another attack aimed at Murata's side.

"Thanks! I wasn't at my guard for a moment there!" Murata thanked him then proceeded to lock blades with another slayer attempting to slash any of them.

"I know that wasn't my finest moment back there, but I'm a Demon Slayer, too! I'll find a way to hold them off! Now I know I just need to slash the threads, and that these guys can only make the most elementary movements! I'll watch out for the spiders, too! There has to be people under even more control closer to the demon! So you all go on!"

"Understood! We appreciate this!" Tanjiro yelled.

"Murata, you can't take them all on your own! Let's team up, you and me!" Fire took a stance at the slayers. "I know you said you know what you're doing, but look how many of them there are. They clearly have the number advantage and they could easily overwhelm you if you're not careful. I'll watch your back and you watch mine."

Murata considered his reason then complied with it immediately. "All right! Thanks!"

"Right! I trust you'll know what to do, you two! Let's go Tanjiro, Inosuke!" Earth takes the lead then ran to the direction where Inosuke found the demon. Tanjiro just grabbed Inosuke by his whole body, much to his chagrin.

"Hey, let go of me, dammit! I wanna pound that guy's face first! Who's he calling "a stupid boar"?!" Inosuke squirmed.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?! JUST DROP IT AND GET OUT OF HERE!" Murata shouted.

"I'M SO GONNA PUNCH YOU WHEN I GET BACK!"

Resuming their running, Inosuke is still thinking about what Murata said and thought many ways on how to hurt the poor boy.

"Dammit! I'm gonna punch that guy if it's the last thing I do!" Inosuke muttered.

"Stop talking like that!" Tanjiro scolded.

"He called me "**a stupid boar.**" okay, **Monjiro**?!"

"It's **Tanjiro!**" Tanjiro corrected. "So, anyway, we're heading the right way, right?"

"My senses never lie! But..." Some spider threads entangled Inosuke altogether. "WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE ANNOYING THREADS!?"

"That's how close we're getting to the demon! I hope Earth didn't get caught by any of these threads!" Tanjiro said as he removed some of the threads off of him. At the same time, they eventually caught up with Earth.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Tanjiro asked why he halted. Tanjiro sees him staring at something and he did the same then became wide eyed.

"Here's another bunch." Inosuke commented.

Ozaki, a female Demon Slayer, is trying her best to resist the threads from controlling her and looked at them with tears in her eyes.

"No. Don't come any closer. Please summon someone of higher rank!" She pleaded while unintentionally holding her fellow teammate's head and her sword stabbed at another. "Otherwise, everyone will get killed! Please. Please!"

Tanjiro and Earth just didn't know what to react to this. The display is enough to hold them temporarily until they come up with a plan on how to free them.

* * *

Sounds of swords clanging onto their own counterparts were heard as Fire and Murata parried every last one of their hits and slashing the threads multiple times.

"Dammit! Every time we slash them off, they'll just keep reconnecting!" Murata cursed then evaded another attack from a deceased slayer.

Fire slid under a Demon Slayer then pulled his leg to bring him down and proceeded to slice the threads. Murata defended his back from being stabbed and shoved the slayer away to give them space. Fire spun around and carefully pushed them back. Since some of them are dead, he had no reason to make them cause enough pain than they received already.

_'Hold on a minute! I haven't use any of my new breathing techniques!' _Fire realized the position he's in and totally forgotten about him having a breathing technique.

"Murata! Hold one of them for me! I'll try something that'll work against the threads, maybe!"

Taken that for command, Murata ducked down from getting decapitated, got behind the Slayer's back, and locked his arms to disable him getting anywhere.

"Good! Keep him steady!" Fire take a slow breath and stanced.

_'Let's see if this is gonna work.'_

He inhaled various amounts of oxygen he can ever take in and focused on preparing his ability to create his breathing technique.

**_'Fire Breathing... Second Form...'_**

His sword lit up in small embers until it augmented into a full flaming one with an orange glow. He had his target set on the threads and he delivered a one precise slash at them.

**_'Torching Slash!' _**The flames created a domino on the threads' line until it disintegrated into nothing but like a string that got done melting. Murata lets the Demon Slayer go, and for once he didn't go back up.

"You did it!" Murata cheered and smiled at the work Fire's done. "Now it should be easy to deal with the threads now!"

"***pant*pant*** Yeah..." Fire panted. It takes just about a single sharp breath to utilize one technique. But since he needs to hurry this up, he'll have to do his best.

"I need your help again, Murata! I won't be able to slash them when they keep on moving at certain paces!"

* * *

A soft giggle erupted out from the **Mother Spider Demon**'s mouth and pulled her threads. "I wonder if you can defeat them. The closer you to me, the thicker and stronger these threads are, and the more powerful my dolls become."

"Mother..." A voice near her raised all her alarm rates up high and she gasped to the voice belonged to other than the boy from earlier. "You can win, right?"

"**Rui**..." She said in a terrified tone.

"Don't you think this is taking too much time?" Even if he said it too calmly, the deep tone struck fear in her, making her shiver and her eyes shaking.

"You'd better hurry up or I'm gonna tell **Father**."

"I can do it! I can do it, all right? I promise to protect you! So, please! Not your father! Don't tell your father! Just not him!" She desperately cried out. Rui pauses and takes into consideration of her desperation.

"Then, hurry it up." Rui said and on that final note, he left her.

The Mother Spider Demon started to hyperventilate, making the threads on her fingers tremble from her fear. She regained her composure then reapplied the controls on her threads once again.

"Die! Die! Just die already! Or else they'll be hell for me to pay!" She firmly controlled her threads.

The threads that is in control of Ozaki begins to move. She gripped onto her sword and raised them up.

"RUN!" She warned them too late and swung down her sword at Tanjiro. He managed to dodge at the very last second.

_'So fast!'_ Tanjiro thought.

"I'm being controlled, so my movements aren't my own at all! I was never this strong!" Ozaki flailed her sword because of the threads. Then, the threads repositioned her arms at her back and made them position them into something that made it impossible for her body to bend, that caused her bones from her arms and her spine to crack, making Ozaki cry out in pain.

_'This sound...! Her bones were now dislocated...! That's horrible...!'_ Earth flinched from the sound of the bones being cracked. Ozaki begins to switch her target from Tanjiro to him now as she swung her sword wildly at Earth.

_'The demon's forcing her to move her body with the threads, so it doesn't care if her bones get broken!'_ Tanjiro thought.

Earth parried every one of her swings, not before she delivered a hard one at Earth, that made him skid a few yards.

"So stubborn! How about this?" The demoness takes another batch of Demon Slayer to control from her threads. The rest of them, only two who are barely alive, stood up with more dislocated limbs.

"P-Please kill me...! My arms and legs... The bones are piercing my inner organs...! Every time I'm forced to move, the pain's intense...! I can't take it anymore...! Either way, I'll die... So, please help me...! Please deliver the finishing blow...!" A Demon Slayer weakly said. Earth closed his eyes as he couldn't bare to hear from the sounds of them, suffering from the hands of the demoness.

"Sure, you got it!" Inosuke said full of brash and charged at them.

"Hold up—" Tanjiro blocked a swing from Ozaki. "Hold up, will you? We gotta find a way to help him!"

"Don't do it, Inosuke!" Earth reflexed away from more swings swung at him. "We need to free these people somehow! Don't kill them!"

"Oh, shut up!" Inosuke evaded and ducked down from a swing while pointing at them. "You two really need to shut up!"

"But...!" Inosuke cut him off.

"He's asking us to kill him, all right?" Inosuke clashed his swords against another Slayer then he backs away to regroup with the two.

"These guys are speedy, too. If we get caught napping, we're gonna go down!" Inosuke stated.

"I know that! Let me think! Just hold up a second!" Tanjiro yelled and tried to think but it came up blank. "Earth, is there any way we can do this?"

"Why ask him when we can just tear them all down?" Inosuke said impatiently.

"Stop it, Inosuke!" Tanjiro scolded. "Earth, any ideas?"

Since Tanjiro is relying on Earth, he'll have to plan as the De facto leader of the group again.

_'We don't want to hurt them by using our attacks. Slashing the threads just makes it difficult with them reattaching to each other... Wait, dammit! If only Fire was here, I could've tell him to burn all the threads!'_ He slapped himself mentally. _'Looks like we'll have to deal with them and buy ourselves time for Fire to get here soon! I hope he knows he can utilize his Fire Breathing as soon as it clicks in him.'_

"Well? I'm waiting!" Inosuke's impatience is running out.

"It's simple. We need to disable their movements." Earth came up with another plan. "Gain any of their attention, make them follow you, and tangle them up by throwing them on the trees. That'll stop them from moving. Use Total Concentration if they're heavy or if you must."

"Okay. Got it!" Tanjiro understood and nodded at this idea.

Initiating the plan, he decided to gain Ozaki's attention by running on the opposite way the threads naturally controlled her movements and soon she chased him.

_'Good! She's following me!'_ Tanjiro thought and followed the plan as instructed.

"Hey, why are you running around in circles like that? Quit fooling around!" Inosuke said.

"I literally just told you the plan seconds ago..."

"What plan?" Inosuke deadpanned.

Earth sighed in frustration.

Once Tanjiro and Ozaki gains enough distance, Tanjiro instantly turned around then tackled Ozaki.

_'Total Concentration...!'_ By gathering air to reinforce the strength in his body, Tanjiro flung her up top to the nearest tree.

_'Unbelievable strength!'_ She gasped when she felt the threads becoming unresponsive due to the branch on the tree, making them unable to move in any way.

"All right! You're all tangled up like he planned!" Tanjiro exclaimed and looked at Earth to see his plan worked.

"I knew it! That's the way to go, Tanjiro!" Earth cheered.

"Wha..." Inosuke stood there, baffled at the new trick Tanjiro made. In his excitement, he roared.

"WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! I WANNA DO THAT, TOOOOOO!!"

He threw away his swords at the side, let himself get chased by another Slayer while laughing and running like a little kid, and tackled him wholely.

"Take this!" Inosuke threw the Slayer upwards and tangled himself in a branch. The threads didn't respond this time.

"WHEEE! HAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You see that?! I can do whatever you can do but better!" Inosuke shows off his proud work.

"My bad! I kind of missed it!" Tanjiro replied while blocking the sword of the Demon Slayer.

"WHAAAAT?!" Inosuke shrieked.

"I mean, you can't really blame me!" Tanjiro defended himself.

Inosuke looked around and spotted Earth. "How about you?! Did you see what I did just now?!"

Earth jumped backwards from getting cut by a sword. "Sure! It's impressive, whatever!"

The praised he got made Inosuke dream cotton balls again.

Meanwhile, the Mother Spider Demon grew irritated after they handled her puppets with relative ease. She grasped onto her threads with anger.

"Damn! They're all such useless dolls! I have no choice but to unleash that doll, then." She said then activated her trump card to be used against the remaining Demon Slayers.

* * *

"NEZUKO-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Zenitsu called out for the demon Kamado sibling. Zenitsu regained his breath before shouting once more.

"Nezuko-chan! Where are you?" Zenitsu is seen sitting down and sobbing for being alone for so long in the forest. He also realized he left BoBoiBoy Water and Chuntaro/Ukogi behind.

"Nezuko-chan... BoBoiBoy... Tanjiro... Wild Boar... Chuntaro! Where did you all go? I'm sorry for everything, okay?" He hiccupped and continued to sob.

"BoBoiBoy... I'm sorry for leaving you... I'm such a horrible friend! Please, forgive me for that!"

He almost broke down for also leaving his friend in spite of him searching for Nezuko. He doubt that BoBoiBoy is going to hate him for this. But after he helps him get through all of the trials he'd face, he started to look up to BoBoiBoy more than Tanjiro. Zenitsu even hoped BoBoiBoy is a forgiving friend. After all the emotional struggles and Zenitsu making a ruckus with his unexpected feral attitude, BoBoiBoy never pushed Zenitsu away.

It's like they're bound to have their friendship to be glued forever.

"Chu!"

Zenitsu stopped his tears from flowing and looked to see Chuntaro/Ukogi on top of his head.

"Chuntaro?"

Ukogi huffed away in annoyance.

"YOU MEAN YOU CAME AFTER ME?! YOU'RE SO ADORABLE! SECOND ONLY TO NEZUKO-CHAN, BUT STILL!" Zenitsu cried joyfully for seeing his sparrow still caring for him. The sparrow struggled and called for help.

"You found him, Ukogi?" Water appeared alongside Suzume. "Oh good."

"BoBoiBoy...?"

He sighed. "For the last time, it's BoBoiBoy Water. Get that through your thick skull alre-"

Zenitsu bear hugged him again. "I'M SORRY FOR EARLIER, BOBOIBOY! I FEEL SO HORRIBLE LEAVING YOU IN A DARK, SCARY FOREST ALONE!"

Water gasped for air again from Zenitsu's iron grip. _'I feel like I'm gonna die the next time I get this type of treatment again...'_

"Listen, now that we've found you, let's get going already." Water said.

"I'm sorry for everything! All right, let's go look for Nezuko-chan together!" Zenitsu got his bearings straighten with all of them presented in his side again.

"Yeah. Well, we just need to find Tanjiro and the others then we'll find your _girlfriend_ with them." Water emphasized on the specific word and winked at him. Zenitsu blushed from that word and he squealed slightly.

"You really think Nezuko-chan and I are compatible for each other?" Zenitsu asked eagerly.

"Hm... I don't know man. You haven't interacted with Nezuko much. But hey, maybe when this is over, try to have like a normal chat with her and not creep her out in any sort. I'm sure Tanjiro would've like that." Water suggested, which made Zenitsu agree on it whole-heartedly.

Back to the matter at hand, almost everyone are all tangled up on the branches. Fire still hasn't arrived on the scene yet and that worried Earth a whole lot, even he started to worry about Murata.

"Earth, are you feeling okay? You look a little pale." Tanjiro asked with concern. Earth had no excuse for him to lie since Tanjiro can easily detect him lying using his sense of smell.

"It's about Murata and Fire. I'm worried they might've gotten themselves into trouble." Earth told him, but that's only the side truth. What he's even more worried is the lethal vibe coming from the threads.

_'More importantly, I need Fire to be here right now! I hear a sound that would potentially kill all of them!'_

"Don't worry. I'm sure they're all right. After all, you have such an amazing ability to clone yourself even in these situations. It was such a big help because of you." Tanjiro smiled and eased Earth's worries a little bit, but still, his nervousness is still there.

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Just look at that! Check it out! I've tossed up more than you both!" Inosuke demanded for their compliments as he makes it as a challenge.

"Right! One more to go!" Tanjiro said.

"Something is not right here..." Earth taps his foot repeatedly. "These threads are giving such a strange feeling. C'mon Fire... You better get here quick!"

"Okay. I'm gonna do it one more time, so make sure you both watch me!" Inosuke said then marched towards his next victim.

"You got it! That's okay! Just try not to be violent!" Tanjiro said.

"IT'S NOT OKAY! THEY'RE GONNA BE KILLED!" Earth's trepidation is at max capacity. Tanjiro and Inosuke jumped due to him suddenly shouting.

"What do you mean, Earth?" Tanjiro almost shared his state. He knew Earth is not fooling around this time and it's serious.

"Fire needs to get here and burn all the threads real quick!" Earth panicked when the sounds of their impending doom are getting closer.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Inosuke ignored his pleas. "I'll get this one up on the tree real smoothly! You watch me as I do my work!"

His heart felt like it was about to burst out his chest. He never felt this much anxiety for a long time. The mere thought of their deaths fills him with dread.

Then everything went like a blur to Earth right now. The world around him all of a sudden moved in slow motion. He felt like something swished beside him with the feeling of heat passing through his sides. Turning his head, albeit slower, time seemed to have resumed normally and another person joined the fray.

**_'Fire Breathing, Fourth Form, Dancing Sears!'_**

He dashed at the victims' threads, leaving behind a flaming trail behind him, and slashed them off, leaving embers to burn off the rest of the threads within a matter of seconds. He goes around and does the same thing to the others as well. Earth caught all of the falling Slayers before they would crash onto the ground. The last person he saved is Ozaki and he gently put her down on the ground.

"Are you all right?" Earth soothingly asked.

Ozaki is too tired and too much in pain to actually move her head, so she had to move her eyes towards Earth's hazelnut eyes.

"I'm... okay." She weakly said more than a whisper.

"Hey listen, what's your name?" He asked.

"Ozaki..." She answered.

Earth put a hand on top of her head and flashed her one of his pure smiles. "Everything will be all right now. There's no need for you to be scared anymore. We'll handle all of it from here on out. You need to rest."

She blushed at his smile and smiled faintly from his words. Soon after, fatigue fully consumed her and she fell right asleep.

The boys' were left stunned at the quick solution to their situations. Inosuke was angry at this because he thought it would be quick and efficient if Fire used his **Fire Breathing Technique** in the first place.

"You came at the right moment!" Earth felt all of the weight that was building up in his chest to lift at the sight of Fire's arrival.

"I knew you would need my help, so I did what I thought I would do." Fire sheathed his sword. Earth sheathed his own and side hugged Fire for a good job well done.

"That was incredible! You managed to save them!" Tanjiro said excitedly.

"Fire, where's Murata?" Earth asked for the other Demon Slayer's whereabouts. "Did something happen to him?"

"Relax. He said he'll stay behind and look after the squad that are still alive. He's fine, I'm fine, we're fine. No worries." Fire reassured him.

"Phew, okay. Anyways, we need to catch that demon now." Earth reminded them of the task at hand here. All of them nodded, and went to go to the location of the demoness.

"No no no no no!"

Speaking of the latter, she's visibly panicking because she felt her threads burn into nothing but crisps. Her mind is full of endless possibilities of who she's dealing with. Also, she actually felt something warm brushed up against her fingers ever since she first became a demon.

"Who... is that?" She said with a tone mixed with wonder and curiosity.

Taking care of the rest of the Demon Slayers, all of them sprinted to catch the demon pulling all the strings.

"This way! I'm gonna catch up to 'em soon!" Inosuke said after he sensed the location.

"Don't get careless! We don't know what demon we're facing at the moment!" Earth calmed him down.

_'Now that the wind's changed direction, my sense of smell is starting to come back! So, I'll be able to pinpoint the demon's location! There are two more scents! There!'_

"Guys, over there!" Fire spotted an unusual being with his hearing senses.

"I detected that thing before all of you did!" Inosuke said as he thinks he's one step ahead of them. "I'm gonna hack its head right off!"

With that, Inosuke leapt to give a dual slash towards the demon, but when he got there, he realized a deadly mistake on his part; the demon has no head. The massive doll used its talons to deflect Inosuke's blades and he send him back to the group.

"That thing... has no head!" Inosuke exclaimed.

* * *

"Nezuko-chaaaaaaan! Where are you?!" Zenitsu called out for her. Ukogi even attempted to call for her in his bird language. He eventually grew exhausted after he called for her numerous times.

"Give it a rest, Zenitsu." Water said while massaging his temples. Being around Zenitsu for too long can cause quite a bit of a headache.

"I told you we should start by looking for Tanjiro and Inosuke. The main problem is that we appeared to be lost here in this forest."

Zenitsu grabs his arm and clings on it hard. "It's a good thing you're here by my side! I'm getting real scared in this terrifying forest! I wouldn't know what to do if I were to go by myself!"

"Clearly, you did by running off on your own like that." Water reprimanded him.

"Aren't you mad at me, seeing that I left you alone back there?" Zenitsu sounded so guilty.

"No, it's fine. It happens to anyone." Water said, with a somehow sorrow tone.

"What do you mean?" Zenitsu asked, growing interested to what he meant.

Water grew silent. Zenitsu really reminded him of Gopal by a mile. He really missed his gluttony friend. They were best friends for a long time, even if BoBoiBoy gets annoyed by him all the time, but that's just a friend thing they had with each other. With Zenitsu around him, he started to see him as another best friend in replacement for Gopal, but he'll never replace his best friend's place. Zenitsu is here to only fill the role for BoBoiBoy.

"I assure you it's nothing. Please, I don't want to talk about it." Water ended with a sad note.

Zenitsu instantly regretted asking the question. He thought he just triggered a sad memory in Water and thought it was best for him not to remind him about that again.

The trees shook loudly, making the crows and bats all fly out from them. This made Zenitsu freak out.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

"What the—" Water snapped in his current mood then went full alert, only to realize it was Zenitsu that screamed. He heard the caws from the crows and the screeches from the bats that flew away.

Water sighed. "Calm down. It's just the birds."

"Really?" Zenitsu blinked. "You know what? This is starting to make me really mad!"

"Whoa there. Easy, Zenitsu." Water placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

"C'mon. Let's find them together." He smiled.

Zenitsu made a similar gesture as well then they both walked to where the path leads them. Unbeknownst to them, a big spider with a human head is seen following them.

Back to the massive doll, the latter swung its talons at the ground, creating a massive shockwave. They all managed to get away from the radius, except Fire who was flown a few yards away.

"Fire, you okay?!" Earth expressed. Fire nodded slowly then return to his feet.

"That thing's got no weak spots! I can't slash something that's not there!" Inosuke stated and begins to panic while pointing fingers at the big doll.

_'Wow. I never see him this panicked before.'_ Earth thought.

"What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?"

Fire ran full speed to the doll. "Stand back! I'll burn this thing down in no time!"

"Don't go in there recklessly!" Earth shouted but he didn't listen. Even if Fire has grown mature, his personality hadn't.

Sword in hand, Fire jumped up and swung a vertical slash down at the massive doll's talons. The latter proved to be more stronger than the former and it pushed him back immensely. Fire collided with Earth, and together they crashed onto the ground.

"Earth! Fire!" Tanjiro shouted.

"Don't worry! That's my bad!" Fire gotten up and extended a hand to the fallen elemental.

"I told you not to go in there alone, you idiot!" Earth smacked him right behind his head.

"Now, what should we do? Do we have an idea on how to beat a massive doll that is headless?" Fire rubbed his head where Earth had smacked him. _'I deserved that...'_

"Calm down! We'll inflict a monk's robe cut on it!" Tanjiro explains. "Let's try slashing from the base of its neck on the right side to his left waist!"

"Can that really work?" Earth asked.

"It'll work when we try it! I know it's a lot to cover, and I'm sure it's really tough, but I bet..."

Inosuke didn't bother to listen to his plan and did a _Fire_ by charging at the doll carelessly.

"Hold up! In unison...!" Tanjiro couldn't reach him.

Despite Inosuke's impressive speed, the doll easily raised its talons and prepared to slice Inosuke with them.

"It's fast!" Even he indeed turned his head to the side to avoid being cut, some stray cuts found their way into his skin and bleeds it.

"But not so fast I can't dodge it!

He jinxed himself when a spider climbed onto his arm and wrapped threads around his arm.

"Crap! I forgot about the spiders!" Inosuke became completely entangled with threads, making himself unable to move. The doll readied another fatal blow to end him.

"I can't move! I'm a dead man!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Earth intercepted by using the talon's blade's edge to be deflected with Earth's sword. Fire lunged forward and dropkicked the doll, sending it forward. Tanjiro cut off the threads that were binding Inosuke. Once again, he dreams cotton balls at them while he makes those weird sounds.

"Everyone, let's fight together! Let's think together! Let's work together so we can bring down this demon!"

Fire just stared at Tanjiro. "That sounded so cheesy."

"Fire!" Earth smacked him again. "Not the time to be joking around! But yeah, Inosuke, we need all the help we can get! We'll be supporting you for delivering the final blow!"

"Damn you all! Don't make me any giddier than I already am!" Inosuke exclaimed.

The doll went into passive mode, but still makes an attempt to go for another dual talon slash at them.

"You're in my way!" Inosuke referred to Tanjiro. The latter bent over, revealing his back—his box—at him.

"Inosuke, launch yourself off me!"

He did as he was told then placed his foot on the box. The doll almost had the blades closer to Inosuke.

"**Total Concentration! Earth Breathing, Seventh Form, Giga Earth Slash!**" Earth had implanted his sword on the ground and making the ground shatter slightly then he ran with the sword still on the ground, making small fissures to appear on the ground and he swung towards the doll's talons, then small pillars of earth emerged as soon as he swung the sword.

The technique severed the arms in a quick fashion way, torn like ripping pieces of burnt paper. It wasn't long when Inosuke had jumped high enough to give Fire an opportune time to give his own attack straight at the demon. He doesn't want to feel left out.

"**Total Concentration! Fire Breathing, First Form, Accelerated Fire Plume!"** Fire had unleashed flames that imbued in his sword, this time elongating it to further get in the right length of slicing off the doll's legs. With one horizontal slash directly to the legs, and reducing them with the former legs left to be burnt.

"Now for the monk's robe cut!" Tanjiro gave the signal.

_'Dammit, what the hell? This is annoying! It's all going their way, huh? It's like this was preordained or something!'_

He feels the power of the flames beginning to swarm around the atmosphere from Fire's earlier technique, which makes Inosuke wonder in full curiosity.

_'Exquisitely and with quick thinking, as the small ember finding its way to be stronger. It's not about going first for them, it's the battle! It's their way to know if they can succeed!'_

Finishing his thoughts, blades in both hands, Inosuke brought down the finishing blow towards the doll. A diagonal slash after many consecutive strikes from all angles and body parts; that's what it's called a _monk's robe cut._

The Mother Spider Demon gasped, knowing that her ultimate trump card had fallen easily to mere Demon Slayers.

"It... It can't be... There's no way..." And there she has it, there's no hope for her to make an effort to figure on how to eliminate the Slayers.

The body begins to decompose in ash, seeing that the trick had worked. All of them triumphed in victory but that was only for a short moment, except for Inosuke, who maintained in his pose in a long while.

"Inosuke?" Fire's head shot up when he sees Inosuke threw his swords away and running towards him with no warning.

"Anything you can do, I can do, too, dumbasses!"

He tackled Fire and wrapped his arms around him. This isn't for a hug, it's something. He heard Inosuke straining for a second until he felt himself getting squeezed from the escalating moment Inosuke is doing. In a blink of an eye, Fire found himself flung into the air with sheer force Inosuke just launched him.

_'What's that all about?'_ He thought in confusion.

His ears perked up a different sound coming from the east side: the sounds of whimpering and trembling. He knew why Inosuke launched him into the air; it's for him to gain a good vantage point to scope out the demon more easier.

_'So, this is what's all about, huh, Inosuke? Thanks man!'_

_'They got me! They got me! Even though that doll was my fastest and strongest!'_ The Mother Spider Demon internally frustrates her failures. _'It's Rui's fault for coming to me with his threats! That's why I panicked! I panicked! Panicked!'_

"I got you!" She heard a voice coming from above and looked horrified to see Fire coming down towards her a few distance away.

**_'Fire Breathing, Second Form!'_** The pyrokinetic breathed in air to prepare for the final blow against the spider demon.

She panicked. _'He'll kill me! He'll chop off my head! Think! You have to think!'_

It all happened too fast for her, first Rui comes in and gave her death threats, her previous dolls that she controlled were taken care of, then lastly her final weapon towards them were easily slain in a few minutes. Her thoughts racked up into one final note: is she really destined to be slain by a demon slayer and not just her pretend family? If that's the fate she found, then she'll embrace it with open arms.

_'But... if I die, I'll be released.'_ Having to accept her impending death, she loosened all her threads and spread her arms open to Fire and closes her eyes, having already given up any resistance and willpower to continue fighting. _'And then, I'll know peace.'_

Her display of giving up made Fire rethink his action and. Not bringing himself to kill her, he landed in front of her and sheathed his blade.

She looks at him with a confused look. "What's wrong, Demon Hunter...? Aren't you going to kill me...?"

Fire had no idea how to reply. From his perspective, she looked so happy when she's about to be killed by him. He also detected a sad tone from her voice. This made him sympathetic for the demon.

"Why did you not fight back? Even if you're a demon, why aren't you trying to fight back? You embraced your death so easily... So I don't get it."

She couldn't keep up the act any longer and she broke down, tears trailing off of her face.

"I just... want to be... free... from this hell... I call "**family**"...! They abused me... This family... I can't take it anymore...! I just want to be... away from it all!"

Fire just stood there. What she said is entirely true. The family she had been for years were all giving her torture every single day without any remorse whatsoever. She lives to suffer from this group who she claimed to be family.

This made him stir some empathic feelings towards this poor demon. Normally a demon would lie to try and make an escape or a distraction. But this particular demon is genuinely upset for being here.

"Why don't you run away? If you want to escape, just run away from here." Fire suggested, but was denied when she shook her head.

"I can't... because they'll always find me... and abuse me worse than you can imagine...!" Her dam broke down and she released every tear. "I just want to have a normal family! I want to feel someplace where I can belong! I want to feel love again! So please, end my life! End my misery!"

Then there she is, crying in the woods, with no one but herself, except Fire, to rely on. She can never trust anyone in her group anymore due to the things they had done to her. What has she done to deserve all of this? In fact, why had she become a demon in the first place? Was it for eternal life? Was it for everlasting beauty? Was it because of her fear of dying?

A sniff came not only from her, but Fire.

"Y-You..." Fire also had tears leaking out. The way she acted, the way her pain resonated in his ears, those aren't acting, those are real. He can somehow relate himself in a way when he was separated in his own world. His friends and family... He dearly missed them with every fiber of his being. After all, they are the very first people he practically grew up with. To share empathy with the demon is an entirely new feeling.

Then of course, there's Tanjiro. Since his arrival in this world, he had no one to be with except the dark redhead himself. Of course there are others like Urokodaki and Zenitsu that he knew, but Tanjiro is the closest he can ever have as close as family. Then there's Nezuko. Even if she and BoBoiBoy didn't knew each other deeply, Nezuko still showed her feelings of family love towards someone who is not Tanjiro for once and BoBoiBoy loved that, so much as he started seeing himself as his little sister.

"You... This is the first time... I've ever heard such sadness coming from a demon like you."

Her eyes widen in astonishment. Not from because he shares his pain with her, but the words themselves. What does he mean by that, she wondered.

"Through all the times I slay demons, I knew that demons are always lying to try to stay alive. They always find a way to retreat. They always find a way to kill me in worse possible ways."

Fire wiped his tears. "You, on the other hand... I just don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can kill you because of you suffering from this family you call. You don't really deserve to be killed."

Once again, Fire is found in another moral dilemma. Was it all right for him to spare a demon, who just killed probably numerous humans in the past and the current? Or kill her to repent the actions she had done and atone for her sins in hell?

"You..." She stopped her tears from leaking, but the stray ones are still there and she smiled sincerely. "It's all right... Just kill me... Please... I want to be happy... if you just pull your sword... and slice my head off... It'll all be over in an instant."

Fire didn't have much of a choice now. Should he kill her...

Or let her live?

* * *

**I'll just cut it right here in the meantime. Okay! Now there's a choice I have to make here, but you guys can choose what you want for this.**

**Follow along the canon one**

**Or**

**Instead, let her live?**

**I know this might be an issue because this is choice based, but if no one decides to make a vote on either, then I'll personally choose the latter by default.**

**Why? Because I, for one, would like to spare a demon just this once. But if you all want the canon outcome, I can make it happen.**

**Plus, I've even spared the lives of the Demon Slayers in the forest, but only for the ones who are alive. In the anime, I really don't like how their lives just ended like that, so I've given them another chance. Was it good? I don't know...**

**Anyways, the next chapter will be delayed unless I need a vote from the two choices. Like I said, if no one decided yet, I'll choose the Live option.**

**~ja ne! :D**


	19. A Sense of Finality

**(A/N): The votes have now been placed. I appreciate the reasoning behind the answers you all have inputted and taking their time to make it. I've been reading them in my spare time and I'm happy that knowing you all want her to be spared.**

**Sorry for the ones who wanted the canon option. Do note this is a fic, so not every event can be followed like in the anime. There will be many changes.**

**I'll be honest, I was intentional letting her get killed because of her killing questionable countless of humans in the past. While I may I seem I said in the previous that I was going to choose the Spare option, I just thought it would make a difference to the story.**

**But many of you seem to like it, and I very much feel thankful to you all for the reads and votes this story has been going. Your comments and the votes are what motivated, inspired and encouraged me to do more of these for you guys. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.**

**Anyways, I was being sentimental for a moment there.**

**Please, enjoy and read.**

* * *

It wasn't the time to be introspective but Fire needed to have his own thoughts sorted out. Surely, he had never even spared at least one demon before. Not once. Something about the Mother Spider Demon made him go into a state full of hesitancy and doubt. Was there really a demon that had expressed their feelings and thoughts out in their most vulnerable state? Fire seemed so. Since he had her cornered and everything, she felt that her hope and chance of escaping had been reduced to zero, and she immediately accepted her imminent demise.

But yet, Fire isn't bringing himself to do it. Now that counterclaims himself as his duty of being a Demon Slayer. Their duty was to slay demons and rescue people from various danger methods constructed by them, and nothing else but that objective alone. Fire never felt an upturn feeling in his stomach before, almost as if he wants to run away from here.

The demoness sat idle in her usual sitting place on the diagonally flat rock. Her eyes wandered all over the pyrokinetic and is confused why he isn't unsheathing his blade. There was something bothering him. She can tell by the look of uncertainty in his orange eyes.

"I'm sorry." His voice tone changed, no longer containing a hint of normality but in a form of disconsolateness. "I can't..."

"W-Why...?" Her voice rose. "Why is it you can't end my life? What made you reluctant about it?"

Fire bit his lip, not because he's nervous, but the anxious feeling is swirling deep in him.

"Surely, you killed many people before, but that's because you're forced to."

Her eyes widen.

"Not because you didn't acted upon your will, but it's because you are scared from the ones who you called _family_ will continue to hurt you if you don't follow what they say, right?"

How did he find out? He must be lying to make her sympathize with him. But again, who is she to talk? She'd lied several times, all for the sake of survival.

But here, does she now have a reason to continue with the act? Once again, she did broke down in tears in front of him. So that option is off the table.

"Yes." A straight-forward and easy answer. "I don't want to because I had to. Otherwise, they'll just find more ways to torture me if don't do what they say."

Fire wondered. Who were the ones that made her scared the most? Of course it's her so-called family but he is interested to see who torments her the most?

"May I ask who this person is that... made you do all of this?"

Her lips quivered. At any moment, if she were to say the name, she's afraid when he'll come out of nowhere and possibly hurt her more if she utter his name. No matter how agonizing she really thought to herself, the more scared she'd become.

She wondered, can he free her from her place of hell?

"His name is... Rui." She whispered the last part to not make it too loud, but thanks to Fire's enhanced hearing sense, he heard it clearly.

"And I'm assuming he is the one that is in charge of the family?" Fire needed more clarification. She gestured her head in a mix of agreement and disagreement.

"There's also a really strong demon, with a spider for a face. I never knew his name, but we called him their **father**, my supposed-husband."

"So, a **Father Spider Demon**?"

She nodded.

"That's right."

She had no idea why he is stalling, or if he's actually stalling. He would easily kill her right then and there. Yet, Fire isn't bringing his sword out.

"Anything I need to know about this father you speak of?"

A question she wasn't expecting. Fire knew that her judgment is just as baffled right now, but he needed answers, answers to who they are dealing with. After this, he'll question more about this Rui demon.

She answered regardless. "He sheds his outer skin to gain a form even more destructive and powerful than his base form. But, his base form is just as strong like a powerhouse."

"So, a metamorphosis ability." Fire nodded. "What about this Rui person?"

She shuddered immensely. Fire noticed the sudden pause when he mentioned the boy's name. Perhaps it was him that made her terrified the most among the whole family?

"Rui... He's the one you should watch out the most..." Her tone shifts from somber to terror. "He'll kill you in an instant... if you provoke him in any way... His threads are steel-like, so you can't cut them in any means necessary... And also... He is one of the Twelve Kizuki... because that **man** shares **his** blood to Rui."

Fire gasped. A look of horror plastered onto Fire's face upon hearing this revelation. A Twelve Kizuki is here in the mountains, and the description she just told him is just so insane.

"I... I see." He said in a low voice. With this information, he can inform Tanjiro and the others of a powerful demon lurking around here thanks to her.

Speaking of her, Fire isn't done with her yet. He hadn't decided on the choice of mercy or death.

It seemed like an eternity with him with the demoness. He had no idea what to do but to do something about her. He can't just leave her there alone. He had made up his mind about not to trust any demons all because he knew they are just lying to keep themselves alive.

Curse his hearing senses for countering his assumptions. At least now he had no reason to kill her. She did gave him a concept on what they're dealing with. So for now, she's no longer a threat to Fire.

"I..."

Her gaze went back to him fully. "Hm?"

Fire briefly glanced his sword and shook his head, almost rambunctiously then looks back to her in the eyes.

"I'll let you go..."

It's probably the first time that she ever heard those words being said from no one but a Demon Slayer. Many questions ran in her perplexed mind.

"I know you have many questions as to why I'm saying this to you, but..." Fire looked behind him, and was surprised to see his other elemental partner, Earth, reacting to this whole scene with a shocked face.

"It's just that... I have a mission to complete... and I know you said you wanted to be free, so for this once, I'll be giving you another chance in life not as a demon, but another chance to live like a human again."

"But why?!" She exclaimed, her mind clouded with anger and confusion. "Why spare a demon such as me?! Why would you sympathize for a demon like me?! I'm a murderer! I killed the demon hunters in the forest with my threads! I killed many people in the past! It won't justify anything if you let me go! What if I decided to kill again in order to survive?! My family will keep abusing me if I kept living on like this! What then?! What purpose will I serve if I'm still alive for any longer! What—"

Fire flashed a smile at her, unfazed by her outburst. She quickly reserved her breath from her rage, and just looked at his calm smile.

"I'll free you from your family. I'll free you from your past. I'm only doing this because I want you to know and experience freedom like any other."

The Mother Spider Demon closed her mouth and brought up her hands neae her mouth and almost bawled. She had never met anyone as considerate as this child before in her life as a demon. The native humans that lived here in the mountain, when they saw her for the first time, they threw remarks at her, saying a being like her shouldn't exist in this world. She didn't want to kill them because then, her family would blame her for disturbing their peace of solitude if she did make a scene, but that soon was taken care of by Rui rounding them up and insta-kill them.

Her heart melted. The kind eyes Fire is piercing through her own had lighten what's inside her void of emptiness. Her tranquility had ceased to the point she can let herself become what she wants to be. Does she really want to reveal her true self to him? To her, it does not matter anymore. She knew she would trust him, but a shadow of a doubt still lingered around her.

Fire's eyes narrowed at her when she undergone a different change. Her voluptuous form was replaced by a child's body. He hadn't a moment to fathom what became of her. One moment she was a woman, then the next she became a toddler like being.

"This is... my true form." Her voice is replaced of that of a child to better fit her appearance. "Rui altered my body to fit myself as his mother... I don't know... on how to become a mother... I never knew what the role of a mother is... but Rui, whenever he sees me in this form, he'll string me up anywhere where the sun can hit me... and I'll die..."

She leaked more tears as she sat there, no longer in her alternate form. Fire approached cautiously, his heart piloting his movements than what his mind is telling him to do. Was it really all right if he do this to a demon? There's only one way to find out.

He hugged her.

Almost as if pulled by gravity, Fire knew what he was doing. She had suffered too long to know what true comfort even feels like. He assumed no one in her pretend family had ever shown a sign of affection towards this demon.

"What's your name?" Fire rubbed circles around her back. He never knew how scared she was when she trembled.

"My name..." She let herself relaxed and succumb to the embrace Fire had given her. "...**Eiko Yukino**."

**_(A/N): Since she officially didn't have a name, I dubbed her one._**

**_Eiko = a prosperous child_**

**_Yukino = To be like snow; pure and innocent._**

"I like it. It has a nice ring to it." Fire smiled and let go of the hug of what lasted to be forever. Now that he gotten closer with her, he can inspect her appearance. She no longer has silky silver hair but instead with short black hair parted to the side with bangs framing her face and two, low pigtails. Her skin was marked with two maroon lines on each of her cheeks and her eyes were rounder with yellow irises and x-shaped pupils.

"Stay here Eiko. I'll take care of your family and I'll come back for you." He promised with a smile on his face.

Eiko never felt so emotional before. It's the first time someone had truly care for her. Then when she heard that he'll come back for her makes her feel a new sense of hope swirling inside her. She smiled faintly, knowing that not everyone is as bad as a demon. There are still good people in this cruel world.

Little did she know, this world wasn't his own to begin with.

She tackled him once more in a hug. She wanted to feel the warmth of his body.

_'He's warm like... the heat of the sun.'_ She thought. _'Since when was the last time I felt the sun's warmth?'_

In the midst of their hug, her memories started to trickle in her head. She vaguely remembered a person who had embraced her just like Fire did to her moments ago. Eiko couldn't remember but she felt like that person is somehow related to her. She wondered how that person is doing now.

This brought her peace. A new sense of love she had been waiting for. She let go of the hug then looked back at the boy.

"By the way, I'm BoBoiBoy." He slightly cheered and told her his real name and not his elemental name, lest he wants to confuse her. Her eyes shined at him. So this is the person that she felt the warmth on her fingertips a while ago.

"BoBoiBoy, can I... ask you something?"

Fire knew she is still suspecting him of his motives, but his motives are as clear as day. But if there's something she needed to know, Fire gives her the right to know.

"Why are you helping me?"

Fire answered quickly.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

Afterwards, he walked away from the scene, leaving her to wonder in thought as she watched him leave to join up with the others.

_'Can I really believe him...? Can he really release me from my pain and suffering...?'_

Eiko no longer had to lie for herself now. She can finally calm down because now, she entrusts his judgment for now. She then no longer have any intentions to kill more humans as she already did now. When she felt her threads burning, she knew that he did that in order to save the remaining ones who are alive.

It was this day that she'll able to do everything she can to fix her mistakes, even if it may seem painful for her to do. She stayed on her sitting place, awaiting for BoBoiBoy's return.

"Please... Be careful of them..." She whispered.

Earth watched the whole thing unraveling. He came to check up on Fire if he had done it with the demon already. It turns out Fire had done the opposite of what he thought. Earth saw Fire approaching him, an almost apathetic face shown.

"Let's go." A tone full of determination albeit for a brief moment.

Earth didn't question on that, but urged on to what just happened. Fire told him everything he replayed in the back of his mind.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Fire said in a somber tone. "Was it all right? Did I just take a risk factor of sparing Eiko?"

Earth placed a reassuring hand on top of Fire's shoulder. Knowing that he shouldered the responsibility of letting the spider demon live, Earth needn't to berate him about it.

Fire nearly flinched from the unexpected contact. He looked over his shoulder to see Earth smiling at him. A simple gesture spoke many words and answers to Fire and he nearly let himself wail on it.

"You did good, Fire. I'm proud of you."

* * *

"So, did you defeat it?" Inosuke and Tanjiro had been waiting for Fire's return.

Fire didn't respond to his question. Instead, he stayed silent and his hair's bangs shadowed his eyes, causing Tanjiro to look at him with concern.

"Is he okay?" Tanjiro asked with concern.

"Give him some space." Earth replied.

"Some space?! What do you mean?!" Inosuke pushed on and got up in front of Fire's face. "I asked whether you defeated that thing or not!"

The last thing Fire needed right now is an attitude adjustment at this wild boar as he keeps pestering him non-stop. Having enough of this, he snapped and sharply glared at Inosuke with his flaming eyes burning in quiet rage. Inosuke backed down from seeing the monstrous glare. It sent shivers crawling up on his spine and didn't bother him again.

"Anyways, Tanjiro." Earth decided to break the tension feeling in the air. "Fire said there's a member of a Twelve Kizuki here in the mountains."

Tanjiro gasped and is now eager. "Here?! In the mountains?!"

Earth nodded. Tanjiro is feeling confident that he knows that a demon who is an equal to Muzan is finally here in the mountains.

"So, Inosuke, how are you feeling?" Earth swerved his attention to the boar.

"Don't go showering me with your sensitivity and kindness!" Inosuke reverted back to his own self, fully forgetting what Fire did to him.

"You hear me? Got that? After all, anything you all can do, I can do, too but even better! Before you know it, my head will be harder than **Gengoro's**. Not to mention... Not to mention... Um..."

Earth and Tanjiro heard him growing tired. His injuries were the cause of his fatigue to grow at a fast rate.

"He's hurt pretty badly." He whispered to Tanjiro. Earth sees him getting a spare cloth hidden underneath his haori.

"If Fire hadn't arrived earlier to save the people in the forest, I wouldn't want to imagine the pained faces of the Demon Slayers if they're killed." Tanjiro appreciated. Leaving him to bandage up Inosuke, which he refuses for Tanjiro's help, Earth sat down with Fire, who is sitting on a nearby tree.

"You can talk to me, Fire. If there's something on your mind, you can tell me." He said like he is his own brother.

Fire side glanced at him before letting out a sigh.

"Eiko gave off a sound of terror and suffering that's enough to make her yearn for death." Fire said in a low tone. "I wish I can help her more, y'know."

"You did what you could." Earth can only hugged him for respite. It's what he needs right now.

"Thanks Earth." Fire smiled. With the sounds of the two boys shouting at each other in the background, he needs this sort of moment to take a break and let the sounds enter his mind.

_'This reminds me...'_ Earth wondered deeply in his thoughts with Fire leaning on his shoulder. _'Demons shouldn't be able to band together, right? I wonder how long they've been here in this mountain. It could be for an eternity or a millenial for all I know.'_

It isn't the most comfortable place for them to rest, but it's better than nothing. Fire succumbed to his exhaustion and rested fully on Earth's body, using it as his leaning support. Earth didn't mind at all. The poor boy had done all the work he can do for now.

Tanjiro and Inosuke calmed down after failing to medicate Inosuke's injuries and he crossed his arms with smoke exhaling out of his mask's nostrils. Tanjiro sat on a nearby rock, contemplating on their situation related to a Twelve Kizuki.

Little do they know, their night is about to go hellacious at a convenient time and place, as with two certain lost Demon Slayers in the forest.

* * *

**I feel like I wrote horribly on this, but I'm not sure. I wasn't at my finest mood today and hope I didn't butcher this short chapter.**

**I'll assure you all that the next one will continue with Zenitsu and Water. Now, I'm not sure if I can do this one, but have I ever done enough to deserve all the love for our thunder boi?**

**'Cause he deserved it. :D**

**Once again, thank you guys for your support for this cross-over. I never wouldn't have gotten this far without your guys' support. Seriously, I don't deserve any of you all.**

**I'm being sentimental again, am I not? Geez, I gotta stop reading too much angst xD**

**~ see y'all next chapter**


	20. You Must Master A Single Thing

"ACK!" Zenitsu had felt a stinging sensation on his palm, getting the attention of a certain water elementalist. "Ouch!"

"What's wrong? Something bit you?" Water probably knew the answer is yes, but asked nonetheless.

"Something just pricked me! What the hell? This is so annoying!" Zenitsu had blown off steam.

"Calm down, man. Here, let me take a look." Water asked for permission to inspect his hand.

"Well, go ahead." Zenitsu swerved his head and shouted some unnecessary words out from his mouth.

_'That was totally uncalled for.'_ Water sweat dropped before going back to look at his hand. At first glance, it was only a bite from a spider. Nothing serious if it's just a small bite.

However, he can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen to Zenitsu, and the spider bite is related to it. He worried that the bite might be poisonous and must get something to treat it with. Unfortunately, Water couldn't come up any methods on how to deal with poison. He doesn't have any remedies he can use to treat it nor have any activated charcoal, not that he has those anyways in case of emergencies.

"How is it?" Zenitsu asked impatiently.

"I don't wanna alarm you, Zenitsu." Water looked at him straight in the eye. "This bite doesn't look good, and it may be poisonous."

"You're kidding me?! Am I gonna die!? TELL ME! AM I GONNA DIE?!"

Covering his ears, Water exclaimed. "I never said it's gonna kill you instantly!"

"Grr!" Zenitsu grits his teeth like a madman. "You know what?! This is seriously annoying the hell out of me! I just want to find them and be done with this! This sucks!"

_'Tell me why I'm stuck with this guy...'_ Water facepalmed, absolutely done with his antics for one night.

"Where did they go?" Zenitsu stopped as two pathways appeared. "Which way?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me." Water asked nonchalantly.

"And it stinks around here, too! Stinks! I think I'm gonna cry!"

Water sighed. "Can we just go to any direction?"

His hearing senses were out of the picture at the moment. They were either too far away for him to pick up any sort of sound or have gone quiet for him to get any sound out of it.

_'So much for that, I suppose.'_

White spiders crawled around their feet, making Zenitsu creeped out with their presence.

"And this sound of spiders rustling around is so creepy! I'm sure these spiders are doing their best to survive, too, but still!" Zenitsu backed away from the creeping spiders.

"What are you talking? They're just spiders. I'm sure they're harmless." Water replied sarcastically.

"Harmless?! One of them bit my hand! Don't you say they're harmless 'cause they're clearly not! Do you understand?!"

Water rolled his eyes.

"Okay man. Calm down already and let's get going."

Zenitsu nodded then he heard a sound crawling behind them, giving him goosebumps that ascended his body.

"DAMMIT! SHUT UP! JUST STAY STILL!" In his frustration, Zenitsu angrily shot his index finger at the thing he heard behind them. It was the same human-headed spider that was following them.

_'What the hell is that?!'_ Water gave a sudden jerk upon witnessing a creepy version of a spider.

"IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!?" Zenitsu exclaimed before he dragged Water and run off into the woods with Water in tow.

"EEEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! THAT'S A SPIDER WITH A HUMAN FACE! THAT'S A SPIDER WITH A HUMAN FACE! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?!"

Water squirmed out of his grip and ran along side him, even creeped out by the spider they just encountered.

"Whatever that thing was, it sure is not normal!" Water barely kept up with Zenitsu's pace. If there was anything that is good about Zenitsu's ability, it would be his ability to run really fast.

"PLEASE BE A DREAM! PLEASE BE A DREAM! PLEASE BE A DREAM! IF THIS CAN JUST BE A DREAM, I PROMISE TO DO MY BEST! IF I WAKE UP TO FIND MYSELF RESTING MY HEAD ON NEZUKO-CHAN'S LAP, THEN I PROMISE TO GIVE IT ALL I HAVE! I'LL EVEN PLOW FIELDS! I'LL BE GLAD TO PLOW A WHOLE ACRE, NO, EVEN TWO ACRES! SO, PLEASE! LET ME WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMAAAAAAAAAARE!!!"

"ZENITSU, WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP FOR ONCE!?" Water's stoic expression was replaced with the type look of having to rival Inosuke's. "THAT THING BACK THERE WILL NOT CATCH UP TO US EVEN IF WE'RE THAT FA—"

His words were momentarily halted when he and Zenitsu witnessed a house floating—no—tangled in webs as it looks like it was floating above air. Humans were tangled up, hanged up and wrapped up in the spider threads. If one looks closely, the humans were half mutilated and half mutated into spiders with poisonous features on their body parts. Some were alive and some are dead.

_'Holy— what the hell is that?'_ Water sweats immensely at the sight and more questions piled in his head. _'Are those humans? And are those spider-like limbs? Is that house floating? No... it's the threads that's making it hold together in the air.'_

Both of them covered their noses from the putrid stench lingering in the area.

_'Ugh! Gross! The smell around here is so nasty! Thank goodness Tanjiro isn't here to smell this scent! Knowing his keen sense of smell, he would be killed by it!'_

The house rattled, making them tensed up their bodies and Zenitsu yelping in surprise. Soon after the rattling ceased, a spider demon emerged by descending using his spider thread. The appearance is that of a giant spider, more recognizable to the eye. The most noticeable feature was the head of the spider; it's human-like.

"A demon!" Water unsheathed his sword then glared intensely at him. "A large one to sum it up."

Zenitsu and Chuntaro/Ukogi paralyzed in fear after seeing the demon in his descent from the house. The intimidating aura he exudes made Zenitsu terrified.

"You know what! I refuse to speak with anyone like you!" Zenitsu exclaimed towards the demon.

"Come on Zenitsu! Don't wuss out on this and try to—"

Zenitsu doesn't had the courage to face the demon yet as he sprinted away to safety.

"Zenitsu!" Water cried out for him. "Damn it!" He clicked his tongue and faced the demon.

"It's no use running away. You're already losing." The demon stated.

"What are you muttering about? I don't wanna hear it, so stop talking to me! I don't like guys like you, all right?" Zenitsu shouted again then stopped to glare at the demon.

"Shut it, demon! You'll pay for torturing these innocent people!" Water made no haste to jump towards the demon with a full intention of severing his head off. The attempt was futile as soon as he gotten closer to the demon, the latter spewed a blob of venom towards Water.

_'Crap! I'll be poisoned if that hits me! I need to use a Breathing Technique to vaporize it somehow!'_

Water gathered air into his lungs then launched his attack towards the venom.

"**Water Breathing, Third Form, Flowing Dance**!" Water maneuvered around the venom, creating movements of waves to form along within his exact moves then made sure to slice up the venom into splattering pieces. However, in the midst of slicing, once he got near to the demon, he didn't slice the head but only slashed the four spider appendages, making him near missed his prioritized target.

"I missed!" Water landed smoothly on the ground. He stanced at the demon behind him.

"You bastard! I'll kill you after I'm done with the other brat!" The demon spat at Water with another venom, to which it was easily dodged.

"Hey brat, you already know how dire your situation is, don't you?" The demon referred it to Zenitsu.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Take a look at your hands."

"Huh?! My hands?!"

The demon only laughed at his tediousness and obliviousness.

"What's wrong with my hands--"

As soon as he gets a good look at his hand, it was beginning to swell up with poison and a noticeable lump formed from where the spider bit him.

"W-What's this...?" Zenitsu asked, tone filled with dread.

Water made his way over to Zenitsu and paled at the sight of his hand. The poison had already seeped in and taking effect.

"Poison..." Water muttered. "It's because you got bitten by the spider from earlier."

"Hehehe! That poison will turn you into a spider, too." The demon cackled. "In another 30 minutes, you'll be my slave, crawling all over the ground!"

"You shut up!" Water screamed at the demon to shut its mouth.

Zenitsu froze. He is poisoned. The last thing he needed was to get poisoned in this here forest whilst looking for their friends. The thought of him dying doesn't excite him. No. Not one bit. He is about to die from the poison.

"Look at this, it's a clock." He presented a small stopwatch with numbers labeled in kanji.

"Do you understand? By the time this long hand goes around once, you'll have become a member of the spider clan! When the needle arrives here, you'll start to feel tingling and pain in your limbs. When it's here, you'll also feel dizzy and nauseous! Here, you'll experience intense pain, your body will start to shrink, and you'll black out! And by the time you wake up..."

"Dammit! Shut up!" Water had enough of his nonsense and activated another technique.

"**Water Breathing, Fourth Form, Striking Tide!**" He decided a more direct approach to end this demon's life.

"Haven't you learn your lesson, boy?" The demon spewed another blob of venom, this time two of them. Water had slashed them and it dissolved from the water particles he created.

"Oh crap!" Some leftover venomous poison went into his haori on the bottom part. The venom evaporated that said part like acid.

_'I have to be careful around him if I wanna avoid any of the venom that will spray on me! But... Zenitsu!'_ He hadn't forgotten about Zenitsu's predicament. He went over to his side while checking on his poisoned hand.

"Don't listen to him, Zenitsu. He's just trying to scare you. Don't believe anything he says. I'm here for you." Water calmly said, thinking it was best to reassure Zenitsu as much as he can to prevent him having a panic attack. Knowing Zenitsu enough, this kind of thing would make him pass out with much horror happening to his entire body.

Little did Water know, making him pass out will make things differently.

"Look at me, Zenitsu."

The mentioned boy shakily looks at Water. His ocean blue eyes staring back at his orange, vibrating orbs.

"You'll be alright. You still have enough time. Remember, you have to control your fear. That's the one thing that immobilized you for doing anything. If you learn how to control it, you can do anything. You can do this, Zenitsu!"

The pep talk seems to have snapped him back to reality. To his realization, Zenitsu relied on him too much to save him from time to time, even going as far as to give advices for the blonde. He didn't deserve him. He's too forgiving for someone as cowardly as him.

Not Tanjiro.

Not BoBoiBoy.

Not even Inosuke, if he even cared for the boy at all.

"BoBoiBoy... I..."

"Water." He corrected.

"Water... I... I don't think I can."

Water slapped him across the face, earning him a surprised look. Zenitsu held his bruised cheek from the slap Water gave him.

"STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF AND BE A MAN, ZENITSU! IF YOU CAN'T STAND UP FOR YOURSELF, YOU'LL KEEP REPEATING THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AND OVER AGAIN! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! MOPING AROUND AND COWERING IN FEAR WON'T GET YOU ANYWHERE!"

Zenitsu widened his eyes towards the water elemental. He had never seen him this mad before. The only time he had ever seem him angry was when the earth version of BoBoiBoy had pummeled Inosuke. However, this is different. Water's mad at Zenitsu's lack of courage to stand up for himself.

"Zenitsu, don't get me wrong on this. I wanted for you to be a competent person. I want you to fight alongside me. Not like this. I don't want to fight with someone that can't prove themselves. I don't want to fight with someone without backbone. You get me?"

He gripped on his blade, that was there on his hand the entire time. His knuckles turned white from the sheer grip.

"If you are a Demon Slayer, then fight with the demon in front of you! No backing out! No running away!"

Water lashed out to any creeping spiders that are crawling towards them. He gave one cold glare towards the demon. At the last second, Water's eyes had flashed a _bright blue_ than what his natural eyes looked like.

Zenitsu stood there, frozen in his spot and reflected what the water elemental had spoken to him. The words, they were too similar. His mind reeled back to the memory of when he was being trained by his master, a former Thunder Hashira, the one who he calls family, **Jigoro Kuwajima.**

No need to put into words. A montage of him training with his former master replayed in his mind. It showed him how many hours, days, months of him being put under hellish training with his master watching him from the sides. The master berated Zenitsu for numerous times of being incompetent in himself and being unable to overcome any obstacle placed in front of him. One scene showed him up in the tree, hugging for dear life with his master trying to persuade him to come down from there.

It didn't work as lightning struck him, making his jet black hair turn naturally yellow with orange strands on the ends of his hair and fell down with smoke coming out of his body.

_'How tragic is my life anyway? I got struck by lightning. My hair color changed. I was thankful just to be alive, but... I... I hate myself more than anyone else.'_

Water is seen repelling the spiders from getting close to Zenitsu as he stood there, tears falling down his eyes as he watched him do his best to get the spiders away at the same time battling against the spider demon.

_'I always think I have to get my act together, but I end up cowering, running away, sniveling. I want to change. I want to be a competent person. But even still, I...'_

"Now would be a good time to help me, Zenitsu!" Water fought on with courage. The spiders continued their little activity on mindlessly chasing Water everywhere while he avoids every venomous spits the spider demon spat at him.

"I... I..." Zenitsu's face shadowed. His head hung low then shouted, snot and tears falling trickled down his face. "I'm doing everything I can, all right?! So, why do I have to end up going bald and turning into a monster?! It can't be true, right?! It so can't be true!"

Not only is Zenitsu shamefully keeps on attacking himself, it only fueled Water's desire to just beat the hell out of him. Not just because he's a spineless coward, but just to knock some sense into him. They're dealing a crisis and Zenitsu isn't moving not one bit.

_'At this rate, the demon will be on us soon if we can't think of a way to get in close without getting the venom on us! What should I do now...?'_

His thoughts were interrupted by the spiders' threads tangling his body, rendering him unable to move any longer.

"Crap! I got distracted!"

He dropped the sword he was holding when he was hoisted upwards and was met by the spider demon's face staring deeply into his blue eyes. Water retaliated by a cold glare, not even fazed by the demon's intimidation.

"Oh? You really are not a spineless wimp unlike that brat over there." The demon remarked. "I wonder how long your bones are going to last once they've been crushed into dust."

With that said, the demon had intensified the spider threads' strength and tightness to give Water the squeeze he had never felt before. The sensation felt is like that of a person getting crushed in a hyper hug with an iron wrap. Only this time, using this as torture to Water.

He tried to resist the painful method and struggled his way to release himself. Only to find blood spurting out of his uniform and painting the threads in its red colour. Water screamed in pure anguish, suffering to the hands of the demon.

Without his sword, he's nothing.

"Zenitsu!" Water literally cried out towards the blonde with tears in his eyes. "I need you! Help me! Please!"

Zenitsu shivered. His friend, his friend that had treated him genuinely and with kindness, is about to be killed.

He can't stand idle!

He needs to rescue him!

Zenitsu clicked his sword's hilt.

He sprang up.

To the spider threads.

He slashed them cleanly.

He freed Water.

"Water! Are you all right!?" Zenitsu had him in his arms. Water didn't respond and can't move his head to face him. His blue eyes found their way to his blonde ones.

"Ze... nit... su..." Water weakly muttered. Blood still spilling from the thread's indescribable sharpness piercing his flesh.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I couldn't help you!" Zenitsu stuttered in some of the lines.

Water winced in pain, but that doesn't mean he won't go down without a fight. With his wounds hurting him, he find it a little difficult to stand back up on two feet. The pain from being almost strangled didn't help at all as he stagger each time he took a step forward.

"You're hurt, BoBoiBoy! You need to stop and think about yourself first!"

Water chuckled at his statement.

"Hehe... Look who's talking now, huh? I'm suppose to tell you about that. Now it's the other way around." Water held his arm while still gripping onto his sword.

"Can you still move?" Zenitsu asked worriedly, seeing his bloodied figure.

"Yeah. I'm still fit as a fiddle." Water flexed on some of the parts of his body that were unhurt and still functioning.

"Hehehehehe!" On the other hand, the spider demon merely laughed at their display with mockery on his face.

"It would only be a matter of time when the poison kicks in or when the brat bleeds to death! Either way, I'm thoroughly going to enjoy watching you two succumb to your own demise!"

Water grits his teeth harder to the point some teeth will crack from the rough gritting.

"Listen, BoBoiBoy, I'm sorry." Zenitsu eyed Water. "I know I've been telling myself I needed to change myself for the better. When I feel discouraged about my actions, you were there to reinvigorate me with such words nobody would tell it to me. I keep telling myself that there will be someone out there, someone in this cruel world, who would put their whole faith in me as I kept trying and trying. But now, now I'm sure of it."

"Zenitsu..." Water spoke softly.

"It's all thanks to you and Tanjiro that I'm beginning to feel like this. The feel of having friends, the feeling of having someone I can rely on. It's just something I really wanted in my whole life. I am really grateful that I met you guys!" Zenitsu, for once in his whole life, smiled genuinely towards the water elemental.

Water grinned ear to ear. It seemed like to change Zenitsu's attitude might be a stepping stone for him to give him the edge he needed to be able to stand on his own now. Now this time, Zenitsu stood beside the injured water elemental, swords gripped confidently on their respective owners, and faced off their demon.

"I hate to break it to you two but your time is already running out." The demon taunted. "You don't have the strength to keep on fighting me and the other one will soon join my spider brethren. There is absolutely no way you two will be able to stop me! Hehehehehe!"

Water scoffed. "You, killing us? Sorry but we'll be doing the killing around here."

Zenitsu joined. "Let's show him, BoBoiBoy!"

"Water." He corrected once more.

"Let's show him, Water!" He announced, face now filled with confidence and bravery, replacing his earlier fearful and dreadful look

The demon frowned then commanded his spiders to outnumber and overwhelm them with more poison. Water is in charge on taking care of the spiders beneath them while Zenitsu supported him while at the same time charging towards the demon with the sole intention of severing the demon's neck.

"**Thunder Breathing, First Form...**"

The demon saw this one coming then spewed a wide venomous spit at Zenitsu.

"**Poison Sputum!**"

Zenitsu anticipated this might happen and it did. He twisted his own body midair to dodge the hurling poison until it hit the tree's bark, slowly evaporating the spot where it hit.

"That was close!" Zenitsu exclaimed.

"Are you alright!?" Water worriedly cried out for his friend.

"I'm fine!" Zenitsu yelled. "I'll be okay. I just need to be more careful next time!"

He then flexed his body downwards, giving the same stance he did back at the tsuzumi mansion.

"**Thunder Breathing, First Form...**"

"Hey, you guys! Pounce on the one in yellow!" The spider demon ordered the rest of the spiders. They heard and shifted their attention on Water to Zenitsu next.

"Dammit! They're now targeting him! Not happening when I'm still around!" Despite severely injured, Water still had enough strength to push himself to be right near Zenitsu, combining with sheer willpower and determination to bring down the demon.

They managed to swept the spiders away from them using their swords. They flew in multiple directions. Zenitsu assumed his stance again.

"**Thunder Breathing, First Form...**"

Water noticed the repetitive chants Zenitsu made attempting to create his Breathing Technique

"What's going on? Why are you continuing to do the same thing again?" Water asked. "Don't you have any Breathing Forms?"

Zenitsu didn't have time to answer his question when another venomous spit hurled at his spot. Zenitsu managed to get away in time before getting melted by the acidic spit. Once he got out of harm's way, his eyes met Water's wavering blue eyes then thought in his mind what his former master had told him before all this.

_"That's all right, Zenitsu. That's good enough for you.If you can master one, that's cause for a celebration! If you can only do one thing, hone it to perfection. Hone it to the utmost limit!"_ Gramps entrusted Zenitsu to give it his all to perfecting what he trained him.

_'Hey, but Gramps... Just a little while ago, you were hopping mad. Because Thunder Breathing has three forms, and all I can manage to do is one.'_ Zenitsu contemplated in his mind as more images of him and Jigoro pounding his fist onto Zenitsu's head.

_"Do you know how to forge a sword?"_

_'I have no idea. Will you keep hitting me? I think I'll cry.'_ Zenitsu thought as he let himself get bashed by his master.

_"The thing about swords... You strike and strike and strike to get rid of impurities and anything you don't need and to increase the purity of the blade so a durable sword can be forged."_

_'So that's why you keep clobbering me day in, day out? But I'm not made of steel, am I? I'm living flesh, you know.'_

The demon spectated the two of them not moving after a while. He glanced a look towards Zenitsu, then casted another dark look towards the water elemental.

_"Zenitsu, perfect it! It's all right to cry. It's all right to run away! Just don't ever give up! Just believe. You endured all that hellish training! You'll be rewarded for that without fail! Hone it to the utmost limit! Become the most durable blade of all!"_

Lightning sparks around his hands and emitting a vibrating light around the palms of his hand holding the sword. Water felt the tension Zenitsu is making. He looked to see Zenitsu's eyes all white, no pupils presented, as if he had the look of a madman.

"Z-Zenitsu...?" He had never seen this version of Zenitsu before besides the real him back at the tsuzumi mansion. This Zenitsu is raising red flags. He feels like if he gets closer to him, Water will be electrocuted just by approaching him.

_"Hone that one thing to perfection!"_ Gramps's words echoed in Zenitsu's head.

It opted him to dodge the incoming poison spit and was soon about to be overwhelmed with spiders. Fortunately, Water blocked them off using his Water Breathing Technique to sway them off, giving them breathing space.

"Thanks!" Zenitsu said.

"I don't think I would've, Zenitsu. I mean look at you now." Water gave him a grin, which Zenitsu noticed that caused him to grow wide eyed.

"The wimpy, cowardly version of you is gone now. You are now fighting with me this time! And I got you to thank for it! That there's somebody I can place my hopes in! And I knew it would be you that I can trust! I feel real confident that we can do this, Zenitsu! Just don't ever give up!"

This made Zenitsu momentarily speechless. Mindless thoughts ran through his head, completely ignoring what's happening around him and focused only on himself.

_'I have no parents, so no one has any hopes for me. There's no one who dreams that I'll grasp or accomplish something one day. That I'll prove myself useful to somebody. That I'll manage to protect somebody and make that person happy just once in my life. Not even a simple future like that. There's no one who hopes that I'll have one. If you fail, cry and run away even once, they say, "**Oh, this guy's no good." **and they walk away.'_

His mind raced through the thoughts of his master who he called to be Gramps, the only person that cares for him. The time he spent with the master, the training he has to put up just to make him proud, they weren't for nothing. They were his resolve for his mistakes. Gramps had made Zenitsu the person of who he wants to be today.

Zenitsu gazed at Water, who looks concerned towards him as he's been like staring at him for the whole time now.

_'Water—no... BoBoiBoy... with him around, I feel like I can do anything. All this time, he never made fun of me. Time and time again, he was there when I was in a pickle. We shared many good past times we had and it was really thoughtful to speak about it despite being a few days ago. Clearly, he had given me a stern lecture about being brave when it comes to battling demons. I still have a long way to go before I can prove myself to him that I'm no longer afraid of demons.'_

_'Although, I think I don't need to. As of now, I'm going to set my path straight. I don't need anyone's hand to hold anymore. I'll grow stronger with BoBoiBoy!'_

"Is everything okay, Zenitsu?" Water's worrying tone reached Zenitsu.

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

Water didn't buy it but chose to brush it off for later. The spiders tried to pounce on them which resulted them bouncing away to another spot. Zenitsu spurted out blood as the poison begins to take effect.

Water rushed towards Zenitsu with a nervous face. He didn't care if his injuries are hindering him in many ways. He just wants to make sure Zenitsu is okay.

The spiders all swarmed them, enveloping them both from top to bottom, left to right, all covered up in unfathomable numbers.

Water's injuries are taking a turn for the worse. His adrenaline temporarily boosted with determination but he's beginning to think that he won't make it due to the circumstances given to them.

It is starting to enrage him.

Unknown to him, his power watch, the seemingly unresponsive watch that is resting on Water's wrist, had come to life when it senses its owner is in danger. Ochobot had once stated, that when the watch detects danger that is oddly impossible for the owner to get out of, it activates a failsafe to ensure the wielder to give the power needed and a quick recovery to the wielder's wounds.

The power watch's screen glowed with labels: **Infusion complete. Secondary tier and third tier transferred to host. Activating desired element:**

**Ice.**

"Hehehehe! That should do it for them!" The spider demon smirked seeing the spiders clobbering both of them. He thought he had won this battle. But it was exact opposite of what he thought. The spiders were blasted away from the forces given off by Zenitsu and—

_'What's this? The air is vibrating!'_

The spider demon felt chills resonating in the atmosphere. It was odd for cold air to waft around the area when there were no wind to be picked off as they are in a dense part of the forest. The source came from the previous elementalist, who had undergone another change.

_'Since when was the air beginning to feel cold all of a sudden? Was it coming from that blue bastard?'_ The spider demon descended from his thread and looked at them with his spider eyes.

Zenitsu was covered in electricity with vibrations accompanied. Smoke is seen escaping from his mouth.

The other one had his eyes closed. Sword in hand, that changed from ocean blue to a cyan blue with icicles sticking out from the blade. The sword's hilt was encased with ice and the holder's hand was also encased or made in ice. His haori was the same color except ice patterns were presented. His Demon Slayer uniform also had icicle patterns imbued and an additional hood is attached on the back.

"I am... **BoBoiBoy Ice.**" He delivered the coldest glare he can muster to the demon, to which the latter shivered in fear from the intimidating blue aura.

"**Thunder Breathing, First Form... Thunderclap and Flash!**" Zenitsu chanted and massive loads of electricity shot out from the ground, making rocks levitated from the vibrations creating.

"**Ice Breathing, Second Form... Winter Hollow.**" Ice clicks his sword, thrusted the ground, and out from where the blade is thrusted, ice begins to take form of the ground at a rapid pace, enveloping the ground and freezing the arachnids that were coming for them. They were all trapped inside the ice, not even their tail stingers are able to free themselves from it.

"**Sixfold!**" Zenitsu had augmented his First Form, maximizing its potential to its fullest state.

The spider demon is unable to resist the sudden drop of temperature and the vibrations from the lightning and jumped away to safety while spitting out two more venoms at them.

Ice easily freezes the spit and moved out of the way to let the frozen spit hit the ground with a thud. Zenitsu, on the other hand, sped away from getting hit in a flash.

"He vanished?!" The demon exclaimed when he sees multiple yellow blurs zooming past his vision and all over the forest. He decided to hastily retreat back at the hanging house, hoping none of them will reach him.

"**Ice Breathing, Fourth Form...**" Ice sheathed his sword and then raised his arm to look he's pointing towards the house. From his hands, an arctic bow was summoned in his bidding and three freezing arrows appeared in each of his other hand.

"**Frostbite Death Arrows.**" He aimed the arrows to the house. When the arrows made in contact to the wooden structures, it freezes and later disintegrates them in a second. One arrow found its way to the target and struck one of the demon's appendages, causing it to become ice and shattered on impact.

_'Impossible! How can this be?'_ The demon thought with massive worry.

"**Get him, Zenitsu.**" Ice said in a monotone voice, with a hint of coldness.

And now, it's Zenitsu's turn to deliver the finishing blow. After speeding around the forest five times in a row, he stopped at a thread and used it to spring himself upwards to the house's interior, where the demon is hiding. The sound of thunder being struck can be heard as Zenitsu finally slashed the demon's head off. They flew in the air, Zenitsu and the demon's head. The silhouette of him from the moon's lighting showed.

_'Awesome...'_ Ice thought, all awestruck. He witnessed another incredible move made by Zenitsu himself.

Little shards of ice were seen sprinkling down on the ground. Ice smirked at Zenitsu. Then he noticed something wrong. He's falling down with no gestures of him landing. Quickly, he jumped high enough to catch Zenitsu and laid him down gently on the roof of the house.

He glanced a look at the demon and his body. He could care less about the demon anymore. Right now, his priority is on Zenitsu. He looked worse for wear. The poison's purple effects were seen on Zenitsu's face. His limbs had shrunken by an inch. Ice grew severely nervous.

_'I wish I have an antidote with me or something! Dammit! Why am I feeling so useless now?!'_ Ice mentally yelled. His cool composure slowly breaking down with Zenitsu almost dying from the poison.

"Dream..." Zenitsu uttered weakly. Ice inched closer to him. "I had a happy dream once... I'm powerful... More powerful than anyone... I can help the weak and anyone in trouble... Anytime... Everything that Gramps taught me, all the time he spent on me... It wasn't for nothing...!"

_'Gramps? A dream?'_ Ice pondered.

"A dream that, thanks to Gramps, I became powerful and helped out a lot of people... And it's all thanks to you, too... You've helped me... become what I wanted to become..." Zenitsu started to cry. Tears are coming out of his eyes. Ice also felt liquid escaping his own eyes. He realized he's even crying too. The tears dropped on top of Zenitsu's face.

"Chu!" Both Suzume and Chuntaro/Ukogi arrived to them with tears also coming from their eyes.

"Chuntaro... I'm so sorry." Chuntaro sneezed and whipped his wings and flew off to get help. Suzume followed after him.

"So... cold..." Zenitsu muttered. His body visibly shaking from Ice's cold contact.

"I'm sorry!" Ice backed away then removed his haori and blanketed Zenitsu with it. He didn't care about himself or how he got his Ice element so suddenly. He'll think about that later.

Zenitsu lightly closed his eyes.

"Zenitsu... Please... Don't ever give up!" Ice said above a whisper.

_'Don't ever give up!'_ Gramps exclaimed in Zenitsu's mind. He then proceeds to circulate by breathing in and out slowly.

Ice picked up on it and knew that Zenitsu is using the Breathing Technique to slow down the poison circulating in his system. It's a clever method but it can only prolong the inevitable. All he can do is look for a way to get help.

Or maybe he needs to hold out more and wait for someone to come help them.

_'Even if it's painful, even if it's agonizing, don't try to take the easy way out... or Gramps is gonna let you have it...! Right. And Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy's gonna yell at you, too...'_

Ice finally sees Zenitsu closing his eyes while doing the Breathing Technique. Meanwhile, for himself, he can figure out how he managed to change into his secondary tier form without any consent. It was clearly unexpected but he knew it had to be something that made him transform.

Then, it clicked in him. He had forgotten about his power watch. Eager as he is, he placed his wrist near his face and was baffled to see that the watch is up and running again. With the same labels still there, he read them and was astonished for a second.

_'Infusion? Secondary tier and Third tier? What in the world does this mean?'_ Ice is completely confused. There are things the watch can do, but nothing could be more surprising such as this coming in Ice's way.

_'Whatever it means, let's hope it doesn't lead me down to the wrong way. It's already a hectic night as it is already.'_

There's not much he can do besides sit there, waiting for help. He can try to venture out into the woods to look for his other selves with Tanjiro and Inosuke. Yet, he can't just abandon Zenitsu here all by himself with poison streaming in his body. With a heavy sigh, Ice sat, dangling his legs on the edge of the roof, and waited for help to arrive.

* * *

The four were walking near the riverside when they heard thunder struck from somewhere. Tanjiro was the first to hear it followed by Earth and Fire.

"What was that sound? Did lightning just strike?" Tanjiro asked as he looked to the direction of the sound.

"How should I know?" Inosuke didn't bother to know.

"But I'm not smelling any thunderclouds. The acrid odor in the air is stronger now, so I can't tell." Tanjiro stated.

Earth and Fire were glancing at each other. Their thoughts were in sync. They thought it had to be Zenitsu unleashing his Breathing Technique or Water changing another element, which is Lightning.

"What do you think?" Fire asked to Earth.

"Zenitsu? There's no doubt about it. Yet again, it couldn't be with Water there. I don't know."

"Don't you feel something else, Earth?"

"What is it?"

Fire made a hand gesture telling him to stop and feel for a minute. Earth did as he did and focused what Fire felt. It wasn't much but they can feel the freezing feeling brushing past their skins.

"That. Do you think what I think it means?" Fire said hoping Earth would get the clue.

Earth was silent for a moment. There hadn't been any climate changes around here. That would be unusual and strange for them to deduct about it. To conclude, Earth answered.

"It has to be involved with Water, would it?"

Fire shrugged his shoulders but agreed with his hunch.

"Hey guys!" Tanjiro called for their attention. "I think I'll go that way."

"Go ahead and do whatever you want!" Inosuke brashly replied.

"Inosuke, you're descending down the mountain?" Earth asked towards the boar.

"Huh?!"

"He just said if you're gonna go down the mountain. Well, are you?" Fire interjected.

"Why would I? Just beat it!" Inosuke said angrily.

"Are you sure? Your wounds aren't looking too good!" Earth's _'mother'_ instinct kicked in. "What if something bad happens to you? What if there's still more demons around? What if you get lost and we'll never ever find you again?! What if... What if..."

He's panicking. It's what happens when Earth takes responsibility into anything minor. The others can't help themselves but be amused by Earth's constant care to the people closest to him.

"I'm not wounded at all!"

It was a surprising moment for them as they widely opened their mouths and eyes from hearing him.

"N-N-No, Inosuke! Your injuries... Anyone can see that..." Tanjiro

Fire watched them go at it again with their antics. For some reason, he couldn't shake this feeling of being watched by someone. And when he did, he turned his head to the right to find a girl with pale skin, a white kimono and with spider features on her face. She was looking at them, or perhaps specifically, towards Fire.

_'Why is she looking at me like that?'_ Fire raised an eyebrow. _'Wait, why am I thinking about it? She's a demon! She had to be different than Eiko. Right?'_

"RAAAAAAHHHHH!! I'm gonna tear you to shreds, you damn demon!" Inosuke yelled. She frowned at the one who yelled at her then turned around to run away.

"Come back here, dammit!" Inosuke yelled after her then begins his pursuit.

"Inosuke!" The trio shouted.

The demon turned around her head. "Father!"

"Who are you calling **father**?!" Inosuke stopped when he notices a huge demon from above about to smash him. He jumped away just in time and the huge demon delivered his fists down, destroying the rock Inosuke was standing on and made water splash everywhere.

When he revealed his face to the boys, that's when they begin to freak out because there was no face to begin with. The Father Spider Demon's face was the arachnid version of the original. The sight of it sent goosebumps to them.

"So that's the Father Spider Demon Eiko had told me..." Fire swallowed a heavy lump forming in his throat.

"Don't come near my family!" The demon demanded as he reared his huge fist and punched the rock Inosuke is at. "STAY AWAY!"

Earth and Fire gritted their teeth. Fire saw the same demon girl again and she's giving him another look.

"I'm leaving the rest to you, Father." The demon said as she left without sparing a glance to neither of the boys, except Fire.

_'I want to go after her! But even so, I can't leave them hanging with this big brute by themselves! I promised Eiko I'll free her from her torment!'_ Fire made a tough decision but it's really reasonable. He needn't to go on a wild goose chase for now.

The Father Spider Demon was about to go for another hard punch to Inosuke after he dodged the previous attack. The three boys wouldn't let that happen when they unleashed their Breathing Techniques towards the demon.

"**Water Breathing, Second Form!**"

"**Fire Breathing, Third Form!**"

"**Earth Breathing, Fourth Form!**"

"**Water Wheel!/Lacerating Flame!/Hammer Earth Slash!**" Tanjiro used his signature technique against the demon on the arm. Fire extended his flames designed to deeply cut the victim's body. Earth enhanced his sword's effectiveness and sharpness to bring down his strongest slash he can. Their attacks formed a chain reaction in which Tanjiro was the first, Fire the second, and Earth as the last.

No matter how much power they brought out to sever this one arm, they didn't give up then and there. They let out their battle cries.

The battle with the big demon had commenced.

* * *

**Hi! I'm still not dead! After a few weeks of taking constant breaks, I'm finally returning to write another chapter for this book!**

**Also, I'd like to apologize for the long wait. I wasn't at my 100% when I wrote this and I felt it was too bland and too long. But I tried. I tried to make it as exciting as possible and hopefully I executed it well.**

**Some of you may notice I skipped the part of the Zenitsu and Kaigaku interaction in Zenitsu's memories. To me, it held no relevance and felt unnecessary to put it here so I just changed it for my liking.**

**That's all. Thanks for reading this chapter and I'll see y'all in the next one.**

**s a y o n a r a ~**

* * *

**_Bonus Scene_**

**_Combined Junior and Senior High School!_**

**_~Tales of a Demon Slayer Academy~_**

**_[Mmh! Mmh!]_**

/Giyu: The new semester's begun. _*smacks chalkboard*_ Announce your names.

/Tanjiro: Yes, sir! I'm **Tanjiro Kamado!** My family runs a bakery, and I'm the eldest of six children!

/Giyu: _*smacks chalkboard with labels **NO PIERCINGS***_ Take off those pierced earrings.

/Inosuke: I'm **Inosuke Hashibira!**

/Giyu: _*smacks chalkboard with labels **NO DRESSING DOWN***_ Button your shirt.

/Zenitsu: Um, I'm **Zenitsu**—

/Giyu: _*smacks chalkboard with labels **NO HAIR COLORING***_ Dye your hair black.

/Zenitsu: But this is my natural hair color.

/Giyu: _*smacks Zenitsu*_ DON'T TALK BACK!

/Zenitsu: SO UNFAIR!

/Nezuko: Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mmh!

/Giyu: It's also forbidden to hold bread in your mouth!

/Giyu: Who's up next for an introduction? If there's none, we'll begin our lesson.

/???: Sir! _*raises hand*_

/Giyu: If you may.

/BBB: My name's **BoBoiBoy**! I'm a new transfer student from Pulau Rintis High School, Malaysia! I've recently moved here with my granddad and my other siblings, who are septuplets. In total, we are octuplets.

/Giyu: Interesting. _*looks around the classroom*_ raise your hands for those octuplets BoBoiBoy mentioned. And also, _*smacks chalkboard with labels **NO HATS ALLOWED***_ take off your hats while in class!

/???: Sensei!

/Giyu: Stand up.

/Tanah: I am **Tanah**! My hobbies are doing the Cat's Cradle and cooking! I do the chores all around the house, making me the most responsible out of all of us siblings. My achievement is that I won The Galactic Cat's Cradle String Championship last year.

/Giyu: Good introduction. Next!

/Angin: Hi! I'm **Angin**! I am most cheerful one in the whole family! My hobbies are baking cookies and riding on my blue skateboard!

/Giyu: Great. Next!

/Petir: The name's **Petir**. That is all. _*puts on headphones*_

/Giyu: Take off your headphones while still in your first day!

/Api: Yo! I'm **Api**! It's nice to meet y'all here! Anyone here who plays soccer, I'm your guy!

/Giyu: Too noisy!

/Air: _*yawn*_ I'm **Air**... I like browsing Instagram to look at food pics...

/Giyu: Irrelevant topic... And no sleeping in class.

/Daun: My name is **Daun**! Nice to meet everyone here! My hobby is gardening like watering my favorite sunflower. I have a really cute cat named **Cattus**. I have many plants around the house that I tended with love and care. I'm part of the _Trio Troublemakers_. I am—"

/Giyu: Okay. That's enough!

/Cahaya: My name is **Cahaya**. It's a pleasure to meet everyone here in this school. I spent most of my valued time reading books and looking myself in the mirror at how dastardly good-looking I am.

/Petir: _*fake vomit noises*_

/Cahaya: You want to run that by me again, edge lord?!

/Giyu: Be quiet! _*smacks chalkboard, revealing **To Be Continued***_

/Zenitsu: No Spartan education!


	21. A Forged Bond

The moon's light proudly shone downwards the forest that housed the spider demons. Demon Slayers were brutally massacred from their own hands and their teammates' hands.

Giyu Tomioka stood still with some dead Demon Slayers in the area while the only ones who were saved were still audibly alive.

"Were you acquainted with any of them?" Shinobu asked. "There's only a few here that survived miraculously."

Giyu ignored her question and continued to look at the few dead bodies.

"We were advised that several rookie Mizunoto had joined the battle, but they might be dead now, don't you think?"

"Let's go" Giyu said in a dull tone, completely debunking what she said.

Soon, the two Hashiras took off in a sprint in search for the Mizunotos they seek to provide support. Giyu, in his head, had a feeling that whoever the Mizunotos are were the ones responsible for saving few skins this night, and they might not be dead to what Shinobu claimed them to be.

"Isn't the Moon lovely?"

Shinobu asked to her partner. It wasn't a question, to be exact. In fact, there was a hidden message behind it that indicated Shinobu's feelings towards the Water Hashira.

Giyu didn't answer her. He kept running while thinking about the mission's priorities first.

"Since we've been given this joint mission, let's try to get along." Shinobu said, hoping to be on more friendlier terms with him.

"I'm only here to slay some demons." Giyu said, not even slightly interested to what she said.

"How callous of you!" Shinobu secretly remarked him even if she had to put on a smile to compensate for it.

"All right, then, let's split up here. I shall proceed from the west." Shinobu suggested.

"Agreed." Giyu accepted it. Within matter of seconds, Shinobu instantly vanished with incredible speed, leaving the Water Hashira to run off alone in the depths of the forest.

_'It feels really cold from the west. Kocho must've felt it too. Just what was that?'_ Giyu felt a disturbance from the west and thought about it. He entrusted it to Shinobu to whatever it may be from there. After all, she's an **Insect Hashira.**

* * *

Returning to where Tanjiro and the elemental duo are fighting the huge brute, they had unleashed their strong attacks towards the Father Spider Demon with every ounce of their strength they can put in. However, it's not remotely enough to cut, pierce, or even sever at least any of his limbs.

"It's no good! The blade won't go through!" Tanjiro exclaimed, even with their combined forces.

The Father Spider Demon goes for another hard jab directly to Tanjiro's face. Yet, he had forgotten about Earth and Fire for a moment that he had let his guard down to focus only on Tanjiro. Fire joined with Inosuke to bring down their blades onto the raging arm the demon is going to attack Tanjiro while Earth added in his own mixed with his Earth Breathing.

"So hard!" Inosuke fought and struggled to cut off the arm. Fire scuffled, doing the same.

The Father Spider Demon easily repelled their attacks despite them outnumbering the demon. He sent the four flying in different areas and landed smoothly.

"I can't slash him even if I use an attack! What should I do? What should I do?" Tanjiro frowned and narrowed his eyes towards the big brute.

"Eiko wasn't kidding! Even at his base form, he's still a force to be beckon!" Fire remembered her words about the demon they're currently facing. _'I don't wanna imagine the other form she mentioned. If that happens, then we're basically gonna have a rough time with this demon!'_

"Don't come near my family!" The Father Spider Demon hurled another fist at Tanjiro. "Stay away!"

Tanjiro braced for the impact since the demon is close to him. He closed his eyes to feel the blow he will about to receive, but it didn't arrive. He heard someone taking the blow for him and opened his eyes to see Earth defending him.

"Earth!" Tanjiro immediately caught him with his arms and carried him to the riverside. "You shouldn't have done that!"

Earth only chuckled. "And let you get hurt in the process? I don't think so."

The demon growled. Seeing that he got one of them made him thirst for more blood on his hands. Before he can attack any further, two shadows loomed above him and the demon glanced up to reveal two barbaric slayers coming down on him.

"What are you looking at!? I'm over here!" Inosuke shouted and readied his dual blades. "Curse you!"

"You hurt Earth!" Fire was angry that Earth took the impact for Tanjiro and he's ready to pay him back for that. "I'll cut you up for that!"

Earth gasped. "No! Don't!"

His plea fell on deaf ears as they rush downwards at the demon. The latter swatted them away like flies and they both slide on the water.

"Ouch! All that force with just one swipe of its arm! It's no good! I'm not at full power! Not to mention, the bleeding's making me stumble!" Inosuke uttered with fatigue overtaking his tone of voice.

"Ugh... I never knew he was that strong! Looks like I need to be more careful this time!" Fire grits his teeth and gripped on his sword with a fierce look on his face.

The demon did another snarl to the boys on the water and opted for them to run away from him. Fire would've fought back but seeing as Inosuke profusely bleeding and wounding himself, he'll hold it off for a while then he can unleash hell upon this brute.

Tanjiro and Earth ran from the side to give them the support they needed. It was Tanjiro that suggested which Earth would most likely agree to.

"**Water Breathing, Second Form... Improved, Lateral Water Wheel!**" Tanjiro sent a single volley of sliced liquid water directly at the tree, making it tumble towards the river.

Fire and Inosuke were both running from their lives away from the demon twice their size. Fire, with his enhanced hearing, heard a tree beginning to crash down on them from the side. He looked at the ones responsible for bringing it down and were relieved to see Tanjiro and Earth giving them backup.

"Inosuke, run faster!" Fire screamed and Inosuke mimicked. The tree came crashing between the boys and trapping the demon underneath it, earning a grunt of pain from the big brute himself.

"What was that? What's going on?" Inosuke said as he fell on his butt on the water with Fire beside him standing.

"Guys! Are you okay!?" They heard Tanjiro calling for their safety.

"We're good! Thanks!" Fire flashed them a thumbs up.

"That's great!" Earth heaved a relieved sigh.

_'They did that?'_ Inosuke stared, wide eyed at them. _'That was some move, dammit!'_

Rippling splashes and bubbles were seen where the demon is currently trapped under the fallen tree Tanjiro made. The Father Spider Demon struggled to escape from the heavy weight of the tree as he is gasping for air.

"Tanjiro! Let's get him while he's still under the tree!" Earth ushered Tanjiro on while they still have the chance to deliver their finishing blows at the trapped demon.

"All right!" Tanjiro then closed his eyes and begins to concentrate for his strongest final form of the Water Breathing Technique.

_'This might be the only time I'll ever get to use this form.'_ Earth thought and went into his usual stance. _'The only technique I can fully focus on making it. The most powerful form of my Earth Breathing.'_

With that thought out, Earth shuts his eyes completely and inhaled air with his breathing pattern in sync. He had never attempted to use this form before. It was when he had practice back at the wisteria household, not in the battlefield.

Fire and Inosuke watched with curious stares.

_'Look at 'em! They're really putting this into effort! Let's hope they can bring this demon down!'_ Fire thought, although it was biased.

After a few more moments of getting their breathing in control, Earth and Tanjiro snapped their eyes open and prepared for their ultimate attacks. They jumped off the riverside and dashed over to the trapped spider demon with swords held firmly behind their backs.

_'Total Concentration... Water Breathing/Earth Breathing... Tenth Form!'_

As soon as they leapt into the air, the big brute managed to lift up the heavy log with raw strength, making their attacks hit only the log instead of the demon. They snarled at the failed attempt but kept doing it anyway to defeat the demon.

"L-Look out!" Inosuke shouted. Fire knew what he meant as the demon had thrown them using the log as a swinging mechanism. They yelped in surprise.

"EARTH!/KENTARO!" Both boys on the ground cried out for them simultaneously.

"I-INOSUKE!" Tanjiro yelled.

"FIRE!" Earth yelled in unison to Tanjiro.

"DON'T DIE UNTIL WE GET BACK! THAT'S ONE OF THE TWELVE KIZUKI!" Tanjiro shouted to get the message while falsely claiming the one they're fighting is one of the Twelve Kizuki.

"DON'T DIE! DON'T DIE! WHATEVER YOU BOTH DO, DON'T DIE!" Earth's yells were drown out by the growing distance between them.

Now it was just the two troublemaking Slayers in charge of bringing down the Father Spider Demon. Fire sweats profusely. Eiko's words echoed in his head. Apparently, it was suppose to be all of them that can defeat this demon.

Unfortunately, fate has other plans scheduled for them.

"This is not looking good..." Fire muttered, feeling a bit discouraged without Earth or Tanjiro with them. But at least he has Inosuke with him. Somehow, it didn't ease his worries a bit.

Speaking of the boar, the latter stood there, staring at the direction where the other two Slayers were flown to a great distance. Inosuke shivered a bit before bringing his sights at the demon again.

The Father Spider Demon growled menacingly at the both of them. Fear struck their hearts as they found themselves paralyzed in their spots. The only option for them now is to run away from his line of sight. The demon let out a loud scream when he brought his huge fist down on the two boys.

"Oh, crap!" They exclaimed.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the near depths of the forest lays a hanging house which formerly housed the **Older Brother Spider Demon**, which he was slain by Zenitsu and BoBoiBoy Ice. Speaking of Zenitsu, the poison had reached the next stage of shrinking Zenitsu nearly enough. His arms and legs are noticeably shorter than what they seem, leaving the clothing remains to be left there. They don't fit anymore.

It had been like an hour since this whole thing happened.

Ice watched with an intense worried look directly at his friend. Death's door is nearing his reach. No matter how many times he told himself that he'll survive, second thoughts always imbued his mind. He's not going to succumb to it. No way, no how!

Zenitsu's breathing is barely audible. He's trying his very hardest to stay conscious. Even with Ice here, Zenitsu is encouraged enough knowing he's not alone to suffer. He's very thankful.

"Keep holding on, Zenitsu." Ice whispered. He lifted up Zenitsu's sleeve and held on to his shrunken unpoisoned hand. He made sure to not freeze his hand despite Ice's chilly hand.

The spiders that were supposed to be frozen, melted and looked up towards the house, or more specifically, looking at Ice and Zenitsu with a somehow sad look. Even though their intellect was taken by being an arachnid for who-knows-when, they still displayed an act of sympathy.

His breathing slowly came to a stop.

"Zenitsu...?" Ice's grip on his hand squeezed. "Zenitsu... don't do this to me... Don't give up!"

Ice's eyes were leaking tears and kept holding on to his limp hand. He wouldn't want to lose his friend. Not yet!

Zenitsu really reminded him of his long lost best friend, Gopal. If he were to die, it would break BoBoiBoy. And he's not going to have it either way.

To his relief, he can see Zenitsu's eyes flutter open slightly. Ice figured he heard him to not take the easy way out just yet. With a relieved sigh, he sat back down near him to give him space. However, it wasn't long when Ice hears something flying in the sky.

_'Were those... wings fluttering?'_ Ice fixated his eyes towards the moon. He envisioned a butterfly slowly swooping down towards them gracefully. A weird sight to behold. There were no butterflies to be seen in the forest, much less in the dense parts of it.

The butterfly's form had taken shape of a young woman flying towards them in a form of butterfly's wings, mostly because of her haori's butterfly pattern embedded. Her feet taps the roof where Ice and Zenitsu is at and she gave a slight bow.

'Who is she?' Ice found himself enthralled with this unknown woman.

"Yoo-hoo!~" Still resuming her position, she leaned her hand near her face and called out for Zenitsu. "Are you all right?"

Ice had taken note of her voice tone. She speaks in a soothing, clear, and sweetly manner. But there was some part of it that is really unoriginal. Her voice lacks any intent of politeness. More like it's forced.

"Who are you?" Ice spoke up.

"Hm?" Shinobu almost wavered her purple eyes to Ice. She donned her signature smile to him.

* * *

Tanjiro and Earth were still flying in the air after being thrown by the big brute himself. Tanjiro sees a chance to blunt the impact by doing a Breathing Technique.

"**Water Breathing, Second Form!**" He double grips his sword and water was clearly seen from the blade. "**Water Wheel!**"

He aimed his attack to a tree and successfully landed with minor setbacks.

"Tanjiro!" Earth cried out for him. Tanjiro heard and swerved to and fro to catch him from the ground.

The result was that Tanjiro had caught Earth, but due to the landing speed, it caused them to crash down to the ground. Earth emerged with a slight head trauma and Tanjiro getting hurt in the process with dust on his clothes.

"Ow..." Earth held his head in pain.

"Are you all right?" Tanjiro extends a hand to the fallen earth elemental. He accepted the gesture and the dark redhead raised him up from his spot.

"My head hurts but I'll be okay." Earth said to not make Tanjiro worry. If it were the other way around, Earth would have been fine and Tanjiro would've survive the fall due to his thick head.

_'It's not like I wanted Tanjiro to get hurt because of me. I don't want to make him worry.'_

Somewhere near them, they heard a piercing scream that alerted them both and gained their attention.

"I beg of you! Please stop!" A feminine voice cried and pleaded.

Both boys walked slowly to the source that situated near their location. They came to a full stop when they spotted two demons with the female demon kneeling down while covering her face and sobbing underneath and a male demon with webs tied in his hands and looking down on her.

"What are you two looking at?" He asked as he looked at the shocked duo. "This isn't some show, you know."

Tanjiro knew this demon isn't like any other. He answered. "Wh-What are you doing? Aren't you two allies?"

"Aliies? Don't put us in the same category as something that flimsy. We're family. We're joined by a powerful bond. And besides, this is between me and my sister. So don't interfere." Rui directs his webbing on them. "Or I'll carve you two up."

Tanjiro isn't intimidated by that fact. He knew what it's like to be family. The way he is treating to a family member is entirely false. The next thing he'll say will throw Rui off of his game.

"You're wrong! Whether it's your family or an ally, if you have a strong bond between you, then either one should be just as precious! Calling it flimsy if you're not related by blood... That's not true at all! Not only that, but those who have a strong bond give off the scent of trust! But all I'm picking up from you two is the scent of terror, hatred and repulsion! That's not what you call a bond! It's counterfeit! It's forged!"

Hearing his words caused everyone around to be surprised. The Older Sister Spider Demon gasped when she heard it, causing her to pause her crying. Rui's facial expression slightly became unsettled.

_'Seeing him hurting the girl really agitated Tanjiro to the point he'd prove to him what a bond is about... That's maybe because the only family he have left is Nezuko.'_ Earth mused. He heard something from Fire not too long ago when he told him about the family's pretend roles to be biased. It's not something a family should do. Earth experienced it.

"You..." Rui muttered, visibly trembling in anger.

Earth heard footsteps approaching and turned his head to the side to see an unknown Demon Slayer entering the scene.

"Hey! Look at that, a demon that's just the right size. Even I can take down a kid demon like this one." He smirked and resume his basic fighting stance, sword in both hands.

"No! Just stop right there! It's not safe!" Earth attempted to reason the Slayer that the demon they're facing is dangerous.

"You can just back off! I want to take the safe route up the ladder. Since once you move up, you get more money from the top guys. My unit's practically been wiped out, but I'll slay myself a decent-sized demon and head down the mountain." The Slayer then charged forward to Rui. "Take this!"

"Don't do it! Stop!" Tanjiro yelled but it was all in vain. Rui raised his threads towards the Slayer and instantly, he got cut in multiple pieces, making his remains fall immediately to the ground.

_'He just got killed instantly! By his threads! How did he...'_ Earth thought. An anxious feeling rose within him as he sees a Demon Slayer shattered to pieces in an instant.

"Hey, what did you say?" Rui asked to Tanjiro. They gotten their swords ready and fully faced Rui.

"**Look, you... What was it that you just said?**" A menacingly tone accompanied with a terrifying look. Normally a person would faint from fright just by looking at him and hearing him.

_'What a horrifying sight... Only that look alone can send shivers down to anyone's spine! It's so intimidating! The air here just got heavy all of a sudden! Is this really the Twelve Kizuki Fire told me?'_ Earth lightly flinched when he sees Rui's intimidation factor.

"Tanjiro, be very careful with this one. He isn't some demon we faced in the past!" Earth whipser-yelled.

"I get that! Let's just hope Inosuke and Fire are still fine while we're dealing with him!" Tanjiro replied.

"Hey, you... What you said just now... Let's hear you say it again." Rui asked none other than Tanjiro. "Come on. Say it, will you?"

"Sure! I'll repeat it as many times as you want! Your bond is forged!" Tanjiro shouts with determination.

Earth frowned. He did not like the look on Rui. Not one bit. He spared a look to the female spider demon. She's still kneeling on the ground, not looking at them.

_'Why am I getting the feeling that things are about to get worse?'_

* * *

Fire and Inosuke retreated somewhere beyond the location from the river and both hid behind some trees for a place of regaining their lost breath. The masked boar breathes heavily due to his wounds taking a great effect on him. Fire breathed in the same manner by having to run away from the Father Spider Demon.

Meanwhile, the big brute is on the lookout for both of them.

_'Damn! Inosuke left behind a trail of blood that leads right to us!'_ Fire worriedly feared for the worst when the demon had already found them hiding behind some trees thanks to Inosuke's blood trail. The demon gnarled loudly, indicating that he is now going in for the kill.

"O-Oh, crap!" Inosuke cursed and feels the demon slowly walking towards their spot.

"Inosuke, you still holding up alright?" Firespouted little worries to the boar. Inosuke gave him a slight glare.

"I don't need you keeping an eye on me! I'm fine without you!" He spat at him. "But still, how pathetic is that we are hiding ourselves from the demon!?"

"Keep your voice down!" Fire tried to keep Inosuke's voice to a down low.

"Argh! We gotta come up with a way! How do we slash someone who's sword-proof?!" Inosuke is starting to panic. It's not everyday Inosuke is scared about something.

"It's okay man. We'll find a way to kill that demon." Fire said. "But for right now, we need to worry about not getting ourselves kilâ "

The demon had smashed their hiding spot, which resulted them to sprint away to another place they can think of. Inosuke panted really heavily.

"This is bad! This is really bad!" Inosuke nervously uttered. "Until... Until they get back, we gotta somehow..."

Then something clicked in him. Inosuke completely stopped in his position, making Fire stop in his tracks and gaze at Inosuke.

"What's going on? Why'd you stop?" Fire asked.

The reply Inosuke gives him is different.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF ATTITUDE IS THAT?!" Inosuke screamed.

"Huh?!" Fire is entirely confused. He wasn't sure if that statement is for him or for himself.

Inosuke did the unthinkable and charged in, straight first to the demon they're running away from.

"Inosuke! The hell is wrong with you?!" Fire reluctantly joined his side.

"DON'T MESS AROUND, DAMMIT!" Inosuke yelled and lunged at the demon then planted one of his blades to the demon's arm.

"CURSE YOU!" Inosuke exclaimed and banged his sword's blade with his other sword repeatedly and ranted. "LOOKS LIKE I GOT INFECTED BY TONTARO'S GERMS! MESSING AROUND LIKE THAT... THAT WAS WAY TOO CLOSE A CALL! USING MY HEAD?! THAT'S SO NOT ME!"

Fire sighed. Things aren't easy with Inosuke around.

"Looks like we're doing this the old-fashioned way!" Fire also did the similar thing and implanted his sword on the demon's chest.

"**Fire Breathing, First Form, Flaming Combustion!**" With his sword's blade inside the demon's chest, Fire had produced flame inside his opponent making the skin burn and rapidly spread around his entire body. The demon harshly let out screams of pain and tried to endure it all.

"Do it now, Inosuke! Slice his arm!" Fire encouraged the wild boar. Hearing those words, Inosuke fueled his strength to give one mighty slice and the arm gave way, making it fall down into the ground.

"All right! Slashed you!" Inosuke said proudly.

The demon recoiled when he senses lots of injuries in his entire body. One would be his visibly sliced arm and multiple 3rd degree burns erupting out of his skin.

_'If this is how the demon's base form is like, then the transformation would be disastrous! I gotta finish this before it's too late!'_ Fire hurriedly gathered more air to ensure this attack will end the demon.

"Hey! Stop doing that!" Inosuke headbutted Fire, causing him to spew out saliva.

"Wh-What... What the hell are you doing, Inosuke?!" Fire angrily asked while holding his aching stomach.

"I'm gonna kill this demon myself! I don't need you doing it for me! Now get outta my way!" Inosuke puffed out smoke from his mask's nostrils.

Fire couldn't believe what's he's hearing right now. He wouldn't let him have his way. "Don't be crazy! You saw how strong this demon is back at the river! What chance do you get if you fought him by yourself?!"

"Well it's gonna be really simple! If you can't slash something with one sword, all you gotta do is pound it with another sword! I mean, look! I have two swords!" Inosuke boasted, then let out a hearty laugh. "I'm the almighty!"

Fire facepalmed. "That's not how it works, you idiot! You only did that because of my help!"

"That's bull talk!"

"Oh yeah! Look who's talking who, you dumbass!"

"I can kill this demon with my bare hands if I have to!"

"Not without me, you're not! You'll get yourself killed!"

The demon, having heard of their arguments, suddenly did the unexpected and ran away from the duo. It left them with confused expressions, wondering why the demon suddenly took off like that.

"Huh?! Are you running away on me?! Hey you! Come back here, dammit!" Inosuke pursued the fleeing demon, leaving Fire alone.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Fire nervously said and followed after Inosuke. A demon shouldn't run away like that. There is something very off from that and Fire didn't like it one bit.

He hoped Inosuke wouldn't do any risky tactics when he manages to catch up to the demon.

* * *

Rui swings his threads towards the moving Demon Slayers as they are obviously trying to avoid getting sliced into bits by the threads' unknown strength. He managed to graze his threads onto their skins, letting blood trickle down their faces. One of the threads hit Earth on the arm, making more blood to let out.

"Aaaaahhhhh!!" Earth writhed in massive pain when he felt his arm bleed. It's a very good thing his Demon Slayer uniform protected his arm from being cut off but still enough to cause blood to spew. Earth wrapped around his wound with a spare bandage he had in store inside his haori.

"I just want to let you know... I don't kill you both in one blow. After ripping you to shreds, I'll carve you up." Rui dropped them a reminder.

"But... if you take back what you said just now, I'll do you a favor and kill you at once." Rui suggested to Tanjiro.

"As for you, boy." He turned to face Earth. "You'll joining with your friend if you don't comply with what I said. However, if you don't, I'll be sure to make you suffer one last time before killing you."

"I won't take it back! What I said was the truth! You know who's not making sense? It's you!" Tanjiro said in-a-matter-of-factly.

"It's clearly you who is mistaken! You can never understand what family truly means until you knock some sense into yourself! Rui!"

Hearing Earth mentioned his name made Rui widened his eyes by a fraction. The webs in his hands barely shaken.

"Boy... How in the world did you know my name?"

Earth realized what he just said and covered his mouth. It was a mistake to call him out like that. Fire had told him that the demon they're battling is Rui. Fire told Earth to be very careful not to say his name out loud or else, Eiko's life would be endangered if he found out she betrayed him.

Rui noticed the lack of response to his question. He slowly pieced together the silence and the statement Earth made. It is making a little bit of sense, but then he realized. Someone in his pretend family had spill the beans. It wasn't the Older Brother Spider Demon since he find it very unlikely, it wasn't the Older Sister Spider Demon since she's right here, it also wasn't the Father Spider Demon since he's narrow-minded.

He came to the only conclusion.

"Mother..." Rui quietly said.

The Older Sister Spider Demon trembled when she felt her brother's aura menacingly getting heavier. She found herself frozen to her spot and looked at Earth of what he had done.

"Earth, I detected a scent of vengeance and betrayal far stronger than before coming from that boy! Did you... say something bad?" Tanjiro felt the tension arising in the atmosphere. Earth switched his attention to Tanjiro. The former is dead worried because of one fatal mistake.

* * *

Turning back to Inosuke and Fire, they were still on the lookout for the demon who ran away from them. It was very odd, but then to Fire, he feared for the worst of what's going to happen.

"Damn it, Inosuke!" Fire blamed the one who was responsible for not letting him finish off their opponent. "Thanks to you, I should've killed that demon minutes ago!"

He followed Inosuke behind as he kept searching for the demon. He got down on one knee due to his injuries getting to him.

"I'm telling ya! This doesn't hurt! What doesn't hurt, doesn't hurt!" Inosuke stubbornly said.

"Would you cool it down for a minute?! We still need to find the demon!"

Inosuke stared at Fire panting for air and gave a glare to the fire elemental. He tried to extend a hand to the boar but ended up swatting his hand away.

"Why are you still getting in my way?! I said I didn't need your help!" Inosuke shouted. "I would've handled all of this myself! Stop trying to give me the help I don't want, you damn moron!"

After everything Fire tried to resist himself, he finally snapped.

"ME?! GETTING IN YOUR WAY?! INOSUKE, YOU ALMOST DIED FROM THE LAST DEMON WE FOUGHT! YOUR WOUNDS ARE WHAT'S CAUSING YOU TO EXHAUST YOURSELF! YOU TRIED TO KILL ALL THOSE DEMON SLAYERS BACK AT THE FOREST BECAUSE WE TOLD YOU NOT TO! AND YOU DONT WANT MY HELP?! THEN FINE! IF YOU THINK I'M GETTING IN YOUR WAY, YOU BETTER THINK AGAIN! I SAVED YOUR ASS FROM GETTING KILLED A BUNCH OF TIMES AND I EXPECT NO THANKS FROM YOU EITHER! YOU THINK YOU'RE ALL THAT POWERFUL?! THEN HAVE IT YOUR WAY! I'M DONE WITH YOUR SHIT TODAY!"

He calmed down after his enraged outbursts. Inosuke hung his head down and thought about it for a minute. Fire spoke what he needed to because Inosuke annoyed the hell out of him for the last time. He almost felt bad for doing it to the boar. His pride was in the way of making smart decisions. Fire shouldn't have shouted at him the second time.

But of course, Fire is still angry. His outburst didn't exactly calm his boiling anger. Eventually, his hearing senses picked up whimpering and shivering from up top. Glancing his head up, he found the Father Spider Demon holding on tight to a tree branch while shaking what presumably would be; fear.

"Hey!" Fire exclaimed. "You damn coward! Come down here and fight me! Trying to run away, you think you're that tough, huh?! I'll burn you into millions of crisps!"

The big brute began shaking at a rapid pace. It doesn't sound right to Fire and he put on his guard, not liking the sounds the demon is making.

The big brute underwent a different transformation. His dark purple skin melted and was replaced with a greyish-metallic version of his previous skin. His body size buffed up and his arms had multiple spikes. Razor sharp teeth

"Holy crap..." Fire's breath left him from the horrifying sight in front of him; the demon.

No... This isn't a demon.

It's a monster.

_'We're... We're gonna die, aren't we?'_ Fire trembled. Inosuke also trembled at the monstrous sight as well. 'I'm shivering down to my bones. This never happened to me before, right?'

The monster growled. It was only a growl but it left them with a sense of dread and defeat. They're stances ceased, and they're too focused on the thought of dying to even noticed their arms sinking gradually to their sides.

_'We can't win... we're gonna die... we're gonna be killed...'_

The monster had his fist ready to punch them.

_'Is this it...?'_

He thought, like this would be their last moments. In the midst of their train of thought, one memory raced in his head and recalled it.

First, there was Tanjiro, back at the wisteria house when he was still BoBoiBoy.

_"BoBoiBoy, remember two years ago? That we'll always be together until the end? I'll still keep holding on to that promise until Nezuko finally becomes a human again."_ He smiled in his memory.

Second, there was old lady Hisa, back at the wisteria house and to the entrance before seeing them take off on their mission.

_"Always live your lives with great pride. I wish you luck in battle!"_ Her words of wisdom resonated in Fire's and Inosuke's heads.

And finally, the person Fire has been hoping to see again, **Tok Aba**.

_"I'll be waiting for you to come home, BoBoiBoy. Good luck out there!"_ Tok Aba said as he watched his grandson going inside the commander's spaceship for another mission.

The memories served as a driving force for them to bring back their battle spirits again.

"No...!"

Fire grasped onto his sword tightly.

"No way I'm gonna lose today!"

He resume his stance and Inosuke did as well.

"I'm not gonna lose! No way am I gonna lose!" Inosuke proudly stated his next line. "I'm **Inosuke Hashibira** of the **Demon Slayer Corps!** Just bring it, you dirtbag!"

Fire smirked at him. At least now he finally has the courage to face the monstrosity of a demon.

_'I'll apologize to him later. But for right now, it's demon slaying time!'_

His thoughts were cut out when a blurred fist sent them ricocheting into some trees. Neither of them knew what happened but knew it was the work of the monster's punch's force.

They crashed into a tree and soon, the monster quickly caught up to them in an instant and hurled another punch towards them. Inosuke front flipped in the air while Fire crouched down to avoid getting hit. Inosuke is in a pretty good position to deliver a strike to the monster's nape area.

"**Beast Breathing... Fang Three, Devour!**" He swung his dual blades in an **X** fashion but the blades not only do much damage to the nape area but only snapped his swords due to the monster's steel-like body.

"It snapped!" Inosuke gaped. His swords were now broken. The monster swatted him away like a fly and crashed into a tree.

_'Oh, crap! I failed to go on the defensive with my breath attack!'_ Inosuke is having trouble getting back up.

"Inosuke!" Fire sensed Inosuke's life in peril and tried to lunge at the demon.

"DAMN YOUUUUUU!!!" Fire inhaled sharp oxygen to the point he inhaled every air around the area.

"**Fire Breathing, Second Form... Torching Slash!**" He swung his basic offensive slash at the demon. It didn't do much but left a burn mark on the demon's chest.

His world was blurred when he felt a hard jab directly on Fire's abdomen that caused him to vomit out blood. Fire then crashed into a bunch of trees and hit his head on the tree bark. The impact rendered him unable to move now.

"Ino... suke..." Fire robotically reached out for the wild boar. He felt his head getting crushed then lifted up by the monster himself. He then proceeded to grab Inosuke's head and together with both boys on his hands, he crush their heads slowly.

"Don't come near my family! Stay away!" The monster said as if that's the only sentence he knows.

"I'm not gonna die...!" Inosuke blurted out. "**Beast Breathing, Fang One...** Take this! **Pierce!**"

Inosuke stabbed his two broken swords into the monster's neck yet, he didn't flinch nor feel the pain.

"Get a load... of this!" Fire's idea is to stab his sword onto the monster's eyes hoping it would work and as a last ditch effort to do any sort of damage. However, the monster crushed his head enough to make him drop the sword. Fire desperately tried to claw his way out of the death grip.

To no avail.

Inosuke's attempt didn't go as what he had in mind. The monster then slowly tortured them by crushing their heads until they pop.

Their bodies twitched.

Fire's hands stopped clawing their way out.

They're going to die.

Die but never forgotten.

_"I'm sorry."_

Inosuke experienced his life flashing before his eyes.

_"I'm sorry, Inosuke."_ A woman, presumably to be Inosuke's mother, cried on Inosuke as an infant wrapped in a loincloth and on her arms.

Images flashed into him. On showed Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and BoBoiBoy all looking at Inosuke with a look of empathy.

Another is old lady Hisa back at the wisteria house offering him and BoBoiBoy their kimonos.

And lastly, it showed him pointing up on the sky and a dragonfly on his index finger.

_"I want at least you to survive, Inosuke."_ She dropped her son down on the cliff and unheard words escaped fron the mother.

"Wh-Who are you...?" Inosuke muttered weakly and blood flooded out of his mask.

Fire widened his eyes from seeing Inosuke spewed out a huge amount of blood out from his mask. For seeing him this lethally wounded brings an unspeakable emotion out from Fire. Combined with the situation they have with the monstrous demon, that too sparked a reason to save Inosuke from getting killed.

On his wrist, his power watch glowed. On the screen, labels are shown: **Infusion complete. Secondary tier and Third tier form transferred to host. Activating desired element.**

**Blaze.**

A surge of heat made the monster let go of his right hand and tried to cool down the fiery feeling. Although, it didn't leave his hand as the fire is still there and melting his hand immediately.

He then grabbed the sword that was on the ground and sliced off the arm that was holding Inosuke by the hand. Inosuke dropped down to the ground and was knocked out unconscious.

The demon recoiled back and took a good look at the boy he was holding on his right hand. His sword was violently swarmed in flames. His haori had changed from patterns of fire into the shape of a fire this time. His eyes are a raging redish-orange. He glared intensely at the demon.

"**BOBOIBOY BLAZE!**" Once he shouted, a wave of flamed erupted behind him, making the grass around to light up in small embers.

The monster flinched, completely baffled by the new change. Soon after that, he regenerated his lost limb and went towards the fire elementalist.

Blaze dodged with ease. Thanks to the watch's failsafe recovery, he can swiftly take on the monster with no worries.

"Over here!" He lured the monster away from Inosuke so that he won't get hurt in the process. The monster took the bait and went after the blazing Demon Slayer. Once he catches up to him, the monster brought down to of his fists directly above Blaze.

"**Blaze Breathing... First Form... Explosion: Blazing Geyser!**" Once Blaze leapt away from being pummeled to the ground, the last spot he was at had erupted a giant geyser of flames accompanied by an explosion that came with it. The flames consumed the monster completely but wasn't enough to completely evaporate him into existence.

The monster recovered slightly from the attack and went for another blinding punch towards Blaze. The attack was a bit sluggish and Blaze had enough time to move out of harm's way.

"Too slow!"

Blaze acrobatically went behind the ginormous brute and jumped up to finally end this monster's life with his last attack.

"**Blaze Breathing... Fourth Form... Improved, Sacred Magma Slash!**" The sword had temporarily enhanced to morph into a form of lava and swiftly struck it to the monster's body. He screamed in extreme pain and blood seeps out from his sliced parts of his body. Due to humidity around the area, it caused only a few trees to cause fire and quickly died out due to Blaze controlling it.

The monster let out one last scream until he is completely dead. The lava remains had consumed his metallic flesh and finally, he evaporated into ashes.

The battle of the Father Spider Demon is finally over.

* * *

**I'm back with another chapter, minna-san!**

**Well, how was it? Good or bad? Either way, I had fun writing it as much as I hope you had fun reading it too!**

**The "Blazing" entrance was a bit rushed and I wasn't good with fight scenes that much. But I managed. I don't know, did I manage better? I guess so. But maybe the details I put will suffice for now.**

**Anyways, I'll see y'all in the next chapter!**

**~ s a y o n a r a ~**

**And by the way, to all you moms who are probably reading this (...which I find it very odd and unlikely but hey, I can't judge xD) and to all the people who treated others like a mom here in the internet and the moms themselves who they aspire to be. (Lmao, what am I saying xD)**

**Happy Mother's Day!**


	22. Hinokami

Rui flailed his threads aggressively this time towards the dark redhead and the earth elementalist. Something what Earth had said agitated the pale demon into wanting more than to kill them outright than to torture them until their untimely demise.

Tanjiro and Earth were in sync. Their dodging patterns had improved as they kept maneuvering away from the threads every time. Every time a thread comes near them, they relied just as much on their instincts, wanting more to survive than getting sliced into mere bits like the last Demon Slayer.

Each time they get to Rui, the latter reeled in his threads and swerved them nearly enough they had to jump back and regroup with one another to take another opportunity to strike straight in his defenses. They're starting to get the hang on how the threads usually work, even if it's only what Rui is doing, they now know what to expect from the pale demon now.

_'Got it! The acrid odor's starting to fade, so now I can detect the scent of the threads! With Earth here, we'll have a chance on taking him on now!'_ Tanjiro brought himself some good news.

_'The sound of these threads are raising alarm bells! Just one touch and it's immediate death if we're not careful! I can sense the unpleasant smell around here starting to dissipate. Now Tanjiro can detect for the threads easier than before!'_ Earth mused. He had observed long enough to get used to dodging the threads and getting to know what they can do.

_'They're smarter than I thought. They don't flinch back in fear.'_ Rui thought at their display of not showing any type of fear and showing their bravery in battling the demon. _'Well, not that it matters anyway.'_

They remained in their spots for what seem to be like the longest time until the Demon Slayers took the initiative first. Tanjiro bursts in front and dodged a low thread that was on purpose. Earth pinpointed the sound of the next thread coming to his face and prepared for his next attack.

**_'Earth Breathing, Fourth Form... Hammer Earth Slash!'_**

When he brought his sword down the oncoming thread.

***Snapped***

"Huh?"

His sword snapped in half.

The thread had hit his face, but in the midst of getting attacked by the thread Earth managed to move his head, making only the part of his face oozing out with blood from the thread had hit him. Earth rolled along the ground and blood trickled down his middle face.

"Ow..." Earth weakly groaned and stared at his now broken sword. The blade cut out only leaving 2 inches of the remaining blade to be place there. "My sword... no way...!"

He heard Tanjiro crashed beside him and the similar thing had happened to his sword as well. It also snapped in half, much to Tanjiro's mixed expressions of disbelief and astonishment.

_'Him too? Great... our swords are broken! Is there another way we can defeat Rui with a broken sword...?'_

They stood back up, with Rui only looking at them from afar. Even with their swords broken, it didn't stop their purpose of bringing down the demon just yet.

Blaze breathed in and out slowly after killing the **Father Spider Demon.** Even with the swift recovery the power watch had gifted him, it did only to heal his physical wounds and not fatigue. He warily walked back to where Inosuke is at.

"I said some really mean things to him." Blaze sighed. "He's probably gonna hate me for it. What the hell's wrong with me..."

He felt like he was to blame for all the stuff he said towards the wild boar. Sure he was pissed off at the boar with his prideful attitude and uncooperative-ness. It was his anger that clouded his judgment and he felt responsible for being insensitive towards Inosuke, even if the latter is also insensitive to the party.

Once he went to return to Inosuke's spot, he find him stirring awake and held his aching head in pain. Also, there's another person in sight and Blaze almost recognized him from before.

The Water Hashira surveyed his surroundings with a stoic look. Some sweat beads were on his head after feeling the humid air around the vicinity.

"The air here is too warm." He said and wiped a few sweat off of his head.

_'He looks familiar.'_ Blaze thought.

He took too long to process who's in front of him when Giyu finally spun his head around to be met with Blaze's curious eyes. He can't help but to feel like he met him somewhere before bit didn't remember when and where. His guess is that it was probably somewhere two years.

"Hold on... Are you...?" Blaze's memory finally clicked in his head.

"Mr. Tomioka?"

Giyu did a surprised 180 and looked at Blaze with widened eyes. He can hardly knew this boy before. Since he has been with missions with other Demon Slayers before, he find it very hard to recognize their faces. Giyu tried to remember who he is talking to.

And by only a few minutes later, he spoke.

"BoBoiBoy?" Giyu asked, back to his dulled expression.

"Y-Yeah." Blaze almost couldn't believe he's talking with the one that almost killed Nezuko two years ago, sent him and Tanjiro to train with Urokodaki.

"Where's the demon?" Giyu asked for the demon's whereabouts.

"What kind of demon?" Blaze hadn't a clue what he meant.

"The demon you're fighting." Giyu clarified.

"Oh. I took care of it." Blaze truthfully said. "I killed it."

Giyu almost couldn't believe him but the look on his eyes told him otherwise. He had taken note of his appearance and how much... warmer he is around him. Giyu might have suspected it was Blaze that is responsible for the damages caused around the forest. The burnt ashes on the trees are piling evidence that he did this.

_'So it's him that took care of the demon. Had I arrived earlier, I would've dispatched the demon without getting themselves hurt.'_

"BoBoiBoy." Giyu called for the fire elementalist. "Have you seen another demon around?"

Before he can answer, Blaze suddenly remembered the other demon he spared, Eiko. He almost blurted out his answer of revealing her whereabouts and that she is hiding in plain sight. Hopefully in Blaze's case. He had reasons why he'd make sure he wanted her to live.

"I don't know."

He had to lie. It'll get him nowhere but at least he'll redirect Giyu's attention towards him and not notice his suspicious motives about the demoness.

Giyu sighed and prepared to take his leave to search for the demons lurking in the forest. Blaze almost felt ashamed for not telling him where the demon is hiding.

_'I can't risk telling him about it. Neither I would tell him about Rui. Even if I did, he'll be suspicious of me and will probably go on a hunt to find Eiko. I won't let that happen!'_

_'Oh yeah. I haven't checked up on Ino—'_

Speaking of which, Inosuke stood up like his wounds are nothing to him at all and points his finger towards the Water Hashira.

"Hold up a second!" Inosuke exclaimed. "Fight me, **Mismatched Haori!**"

"Mismatched Haori?" Blaze repeated.

"You beat that Twelve Kizuki! And I'm gonna beat you! That's how I've drawn it up! If I can do that..." Inosuke did a backwards thumbs up and pointed them at himself with both hands. "That'll make me the most powerful of all!"

Blaze was dumbfounded. _'Has this boar's mind finally lost it?! Just because he arrived doesn't mean he had no evidence that he took care of the demon for us! A false accusation!'_

"Go back to training, idiot." Giyu remarked.

The reaction Inosuke gave off is permanently flabbergasted, he lost all color of his own body and crumpled his pose.

"WHAT IN THE **F#$%**?!" Inosuke cursed and exclaimed.

"That was no Twelve Kizuki or anything close to one. You can't even tell that much?" Giyu said while equipping a rope and wrapping it in a circle. Even if he hadn't fought the demon Blaze battled, then he knew that the strength from that demon is incomparable to that of Twelve Kizuki since Blaze easily took him out.

Meaning to say, the Father Spider Demon was weak.

"SURE I CAN TELL! I NEVER THOUGHT THAT SCRUB COULD BE ONE OF THE TWELVE KIZUKI, EITHER! IT WAS TANJIRO AND TOTOITOY WHO SAID IT WAS ONE OF THE TWELVE KIZUKI! ALL I DID WAS REPEAT WHAT THEY SAID, ALL RIGHT?!"

In his rant and defense, he hadn't realize that he was tied up in the rope courtesy to Giyu. Blaze didn't even see him tying him up at all and gaped at Giyu.

"How in the world did Mr. Tomioka pulled that off?! He's really quick!" Blaze then give a quick turn at Inosuke. "And my name's not ToToiToy! It's BoBoiBoy Blaze!"

Once Giyu finished tying Inosuke up to a tree, he gave one last look at Blaze. The way he's giving him that look is filled with suspense and he's hiding something from him.

_'You're hiding something from me, aren't you? But I know you have a reason to so I won't even bother.'_

Blaze felt his body tensed up with those lifeless eyes Giyu is giving him. With that final note, Giyu begins to walk away towards somewhere where he can possibly find a demon to slay.

"Mr. Tomioka..." Blaze said in a low whisper. He had trusted that man in two years since they spared their lives back at Tanjiro's hometown on the outside. He wanted to follow him, but he can't leave Inosuke hanging like this.

"WAIT, YOU! COME BACK HERE!" Inosuke shouted after the Water Hashira.

"Stay out of battle if you don't realize how hurt you are." Giyu said. Even at a distance, Blaze is able to hear his words due to his enhanced hearing.

"Yeah. I agree." Blaze nodded.

"HUH?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! YOU'RE VOICE IS TOO SOFT, AND YOU WALK TOO FAST!" Inosuke complained with steam coming out of his mask and tried to squirm his way out of the rope that is binding him in place.

"I SAID HOLD UP A SECOND! UNTIE THESE ROPES RIGHT NOW! HEY! HEY! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

That one final shout made a number on his Inosuke's throat. Blaze noticed the sudden silence from Inosuke as he stopped talking and just stayed unmoving in his place.

Blaze walked towards near the boar and leaned towards the tree bark. "Mr. Tomioka's right, Inosuke. It's for the best for you right now."

The grunts Inosuke's making might indicate that he is just tired or is still mad about Blaze's angry comments. In truth, Inosuke had deserved but I was delivered harshly. But who can blame a person that couldn't handle enough stress lately just by hearing all of their nonsensical words? A sane person would.

Blaze made a side glance at the boar, all tuckered out and not moving for a single inch. The wounds took a grave tone on himself and his throat isn't acting so good with all the screams he committed.

"Inosuke?"

The mentioned boy didn't have the energy nor too exhausted to actually hear what Blaze had to say and stayed limp. Then, he passed out from exhaustion.

"Inosuke... I..."

Blaze swallowed a lump in his throat.

"I'm sorry." His answer was genuine. "I said those really mean things to you and I regret shouting at you like that. But how can I? I've been trying to resist the anger being put up inside me and I released them by doing it on you. It's my fault that you felt like this because of what I did and I'm all to blame for it. You can't really think straight and that's what happened. So... I'm sorry, Inosuke."

He huffed a sigh and leaned a bit further to the tree bark. Meanwhile, he haven't noticed his change of form until now. With his bearings straighten, he took note of his appearance and lastly looked at his watch. The labels were the same as Ice's.

"What the heck does these mean?" Blaze stared deeply to the words engraved on the watch's screen. "And what does it mean **Third Tier?** Does it refer to the fusion ability? I had no idea what any of these mean anymore."

After taking a gander at his watch, he heard multiple footsteps scuttling towards their spot. From the sounds of it, it sounded like someone is in search for someone else in particular. bLaze peeked his head around and widened his eyes to see Eiko searching for someone.

_'What's she doing here!?'_ Blaze thought a bit perplexed.

When her eyes landed on Blaze, she hurried to his spot. "BoBoiBoy!"

It didn't take him time to register what's going on as Eiko wrapped him in a hug.

"Eiko, what are you doing here?" Blaze said while being hugged by the previous demoness.

"I heard voices and saw a bunch of Demon Hunters coming to where I was!" She sobbed. "I couldn't stay there because I don't want to get caught by one of them!"

Blaze returned the hug and reassured her. "Don't worry. You did good. But that's a risky move you did there! What if you get spotted?"

Eiko sniffed and removed herself to look at Blaze with teary eyes. Blaze head patted her. The thought of something that filled him with dread.

"Eiko, did you happen to see a man wearing a mismatched haori looking for you?"

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head as a no. "I don't think so. I didn't hear anything or seen a man like that."

That didn't exactly calm him down to a certain degree. Her wavering eyes caught note of his panicked ones. Whatever she had said worried her about Blaze.

"What's wrong?" She stopped her crying and it's her turn to be nervous with Blaze.

"If it's not much to ask but... will you please stay here and keep an eye out on my friend?" Blaze requested. "I'm going to look for my friends if they're out there fighting Rui or someone from this pretend family. If anyone spots you, hide in a bush and don't come out until you hear them going away. Understood?"

She nodded her head and obliged. If anyone can put her trust on, it would have to be Blaze. She'd never wanted any of this to happen in the first place. Better yet, she never wanted to become a demon in the first place and instead wanted a family to be in with; a loving family.

"Okay." Eiko wiped a few tears away and stood idle near Inosuke. She casted a look at the passed out boar and looked back at Blaze with a quiver on her lips.

"It's okay, Eiko." Blaze patted her on the head. "He's not gonna hurt you. You're just gonna stand guard until I get back with the others. I'll find you soon. I promise."

Blaze smiled sincerely. Eiko had her own version of her sincerest smiles towards Blaze.

"Thank you. Please. Be careful of Rui." She said in a low tone.

Blaze nods his head confidently and then sprinted off to where Giyu went, leaving the demon child alone with the passed out boar. She sat behind the tree, out of sight from anyone who can see her on the open. She trusted BoBoiBoy will the one who can bring down Rui and finally achieve freedom she desired.

If only things were this easy with her...

* * *

Shinobu stared into cyan blue eyes that belongs to BoBoiBoy Ice and back towards Zenitsu, still having a hard time breathing.

"Who are you?" Ice spoke ever since she arrived.

Shinobu closed her eyes then smiled. "My name is **Shinobu Kocho**. I'm a medical expert. And who might you be and this young man right here?"

"My name's BoBoiBoy. This is my friend, Zenitsu Agatsuma." Ice introduced his real name to the Insect Hashira.

Ice stayed silent afterwards and Shinobu still smiled at him. Her attention shifts to Zenitsu when he uttered a word.

"Gramps..."

"Who are you calling **Gramps?**" Shinobu asked, still donning a smile on her face.

"Just now, Gramps showed up... and told me not to give up..." Zenitsu said, barely a whisper above the rest.

"You shouldn't talk while you still have the poison inside of your system, Zenitsu." Ice leaned closer. "But you don't have to worry any longer. Lady Shinobu is here to help us."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, young man." Shinobu grinned. "And to your predicament, Agatsuma, you saw your life flashing before your eyes. According to one theory, the reason one sees such images just before death is because you're searching for a way to avoid death by going through all your past experiences and memories."

Ice was intrigued and asked. "Is that true, Lady Shinobu?" He watched as Shinobu pulled out a syringe with a serum inside designed for curing ailments.

She lightly shook her head. "Well, not that I can say for sure, since I've never experienced it myself." She flicked her syringe using her finger to see if it's functioning right. She then placed her index finger on Zenitsu's forehead and checked him.

"Right, you did a good job slowing down the poison's path with your breathing. If you hadn't been able to do that, you would've turned into a spider long ago."

Ice had a smile on his face. "But he lived. He lived because he's not ready to die yet. I'm really glad he went through it just to survive in the end."

Shinobu casts a look at Ice and sparked a new conversation with him. "How long have you two known each other? As hearing you say that, it sounds like you both just recently became best friends."

Ice replied. "Well, you're not that far off. Zenitsu and I had became best friends for only a few days. Even if we knew each other by that short span of time, Let's say he just reminded me of my other best friend."

Shinobu noticed his smile faltered and was replaced by a downward curve. It just made him look like Giyu, she thought.

"Oh, my... I apologize if I may have surfaced some bad memories." Shinobu's eyebrows dropped.

"It's fine. I'm over that." Ice sadly looked at the side. "I just don't want to be reminded about it."

Shinobu doesn't know why but all of this leading to something mysterious interested her. She wanted to find out more about BoBoiBoy and his past. However, it's not the time for it yet. She respected his privacy and dropped the conversation while going back to tend Zenitsu right away.

"I'll inject you with the antidote now, okay?" She took Zenitsu's arm as careful as she can and injected him with the antidote provided. Zenitsu winced in slight pain as the needle made in contact with his skin.

"Hurry! Over here, over here!" An unknown voice sounded off below them. Zenitsu and Ice turned their heads to see a bunch of people with their heads covered in samurai-like helmets and masks.

"Can we get them down?"

"Be careful, okay?"

"Why is there ice here?"

"Hey! Help me melt some of this ice that are trapping the others!"

"It's all good! Everyone's still alive!"

"Whoever did this must have done the same thing back at the forest! Looks like the casualty rate has been changed for the better!"

Ice listened to their comments and was happy to hear that some people are still alive including the ones back at the forest.

_'Honestly, if it weren't for our training to get these new forms, we wouldn't have saved all the people back there if Fire wasn't there in the first place. I'm sure glad we got the right idea to train before going on this mission.'_ Ice thought with a somber look. If it means gaining a form that will benefit in saving people, BoBoiBoy will promise to help as many as he can, even if it means he'll sacrifice his own health.

Zenitsu felt a wave of fatigue wash over him and found hmself unable to keep his eyes open. He soon fell unconscious.

"Zenitsu, you rest well, buddy." Ice patted his friend on the hand, reassuring him everything will be okay.

"Hey, who are those people?" Ice asked to the Insect Hashira.

"They are our attendants and responsible for cleaning up the battlefield for us Hashiras. They provide us services for whatever needs we tell them to accomplish. For short, we are their masters. They are what's known as **Kakushi**."

"I see." Ice nodded in affirmation. "I guess that makes sense." He then looked at her one more time.

"Thank you very much, Lady Shinobu." Ice stood up and bowed in respect to the Insect Hashira.

"It's not me you should be thanking but to you instead. If it weren't for you giving him the courage to stay alive, I wouldn't have believed that he can actually hold out without it." Shinobu waved her hand.

"But Lady Shinobu... I still want to thank you."

She can never get rid of her smile off her face. That sight kind of unsettled Ice a bit but he tried to mask it off by scratching the back of his head.

"All right then! If it helps you feel any better, then go ahead!" She pocketed her medical equipment inside her haori. "I shall now place Agatsuma below the ground now. Would you accompany me in bringing him there?"

"Okay." Ice carefully lifted Zenitsu off the rooftop and gave him to Shinobu's open arms. She jumped to the ground and landed with a graceful display. She then proceeded to bandage up Zenitsu, making it look like she's actually mummifying him.

"Isn't that a bit too much, Lady Shinobu?" Ice caught up with her and asked.

"All the poison is making him bleed, dear BoBoiBoy. I have to make sure it doesn't spread any further than it was before." She stated. "Now, I shall proceed to assist any Demon Slayers I may find in the forest."

"Wait, let me come with you!" Ice said a bit louder.

"My, are you sure you want to leave your friend behind?" Shinobu asked with an unsure tone.

"It's not that I want to but I have to. I need to find the rest of my friends. They could be anywhere around this forest." Ice speaks, a bit determined.

Shinobu liked the look on his face then she agreed to let him come with her.

"You have my word, dear BoBoiBoy." She obliged. Her angelic face and her smile made Ice blush a light pink. "Do you think you can keep up with my pace?"

Ice smirked. _'Just where do you think I got my training for?'_

"Yeah. Let's go."

The ice elementalist and the Insect Hashira went their ways in search for the remaining Demon Slayers. With Ice's hearing senses in check, it will be a valuable asset and a great help in locating them faster.

* * *

Tanjiro and Earth were heaving breaths after many times they dodged Rui's deadly threads. The Older Sister Spider Demon looked at them with a look that mimicked her brother.

_'If this goes on long enough, we'll eventually get tangled up by his threads and be dead by a minute wasted!'_ Earth panted for air and looked at his sword. _'I can't believe our swords would get snapped! And those threads Rui is controlling... Don't tell me that his body is even tougher than that other demon Fire and Inosuke are fighting against?'_

_'Mr. Urokodaki, Mr. Hisashi, forgive me for my abrupt actions. Because of it, my sword had snapped and broke. I got carried away trying to defeat a Twelve Kizuki.'_

A thread hurdled towards Earth and he didn't had time to dodge. Thankfully, Tanjiro helped him on that by pushing him out of harm's way.

"Earth! I know this is not the time to be moping around!" Tanjiro snapped Earth out of his trance and together they dodged more incoming threads. "If we can't slash those threads, our best bet would be to go right up in his face!"

He didn't like the sound of the plan, but seeing as how they continuously evading more or Rui's threads got them in a pinch. They performed their stunts of not getting slashed by the threads and nearly got to Rui if it weren't for the threads going in there way.

"It's pointless, Tanjiro! Even if we tried to get near to Rui, those threads will find themselves in our hides in no time, like they have a life of their own!" Earth panted. "He's even holding back at all even with his base strength, he's still overwhelming us!"

"Yeah, I know that!" Tanjiro frowned at the demon.

"Well? Do you still refuse to take back what you just said?" Rui taunted. "You there. If I were you, I'd convince the other to give up and run away if you both can. That's too bad now that you're going to die by my hand."

Earth and Tanjiro both glared intensely at Rui. Not backing down and not giving in to the fear he's trying to give them.

"No answer? Fine. In that case, both of you will get slashed to ribbons.

With just a flick of his wrist, Rui summoned two huge spider webs. Tanjiro and Earth widened their eyes at how fast the webs got to them.

_'We can't dodge them all!'_ Earth thought and braced for the webs' impact. Time to have slowed down around them with the inevitable approach coming their way kill the Demon Slayers.

The sound of blood gushing out made everyone wide eyed except Earth. Realizing that the attack didn't come, Earth opened his eyelids to see the unexpected happened.

"NEZUKO!!!" Tanjiro yelled for his demon sister, She took the hit for them both and is bleeding profusely. Some parts of her body got almost severed when she received those hits for them. Tanjiro caught her as she is about to fall down and dragged her behind a tree.

"Nezuko! Nezuko! You protected us! I'm sorry!" Tanjiro apologized for he thought he got his sister in this state because of them.

"I can't believe it. Nezuko..." Earth covered his mouth. "She protected us. She..."

"A girl emerged from that box on that boy's shoulders. But she has the aura of a demon!" The Older Sister Spider Demon was shocked at the demon Kamado sibling protecting the two humans. She gasped when she saw Rui visibly shaking in pure shock.

_'Rui's giving off a sound of clear wonder and amazement. Maybe he thought that Nezuko's a demon?'_ Earth mused.

"Hey, you...Is that..." He shakily pointed his finger towards the demon Kamado sibling. "That girl... is she your sibling?"

"So what if she is?!" Tanjiro shouted while trying to tend the almost severed forearm Nezuko had. _'The wound's so deep! Her left wrist is about to fall off! Hurry up and heal! Hurry up and heal! Hurry up and heal!'_

Meanwhile, Earth stands idle in his place while positioning himself to be right near to Tanjiro and Nezuko and had a staring contest with Rui. He even glanced at the other sister demon to make sure she's not trying anything suspicious. Surprisingly, she done nothing all this time when they were battling Rui.

_'Something is strange about that girl. She hadn't made one single move throughout the whole thing.'_ Earth then realized something. _'No! Stop it! Now's not the time to think about her right now! Nezuko's injured and I gotta make sure none of them try anything funny!'_

"Siblings... The sister's been turned into a demon. Yet, she stays by their side." Rui said, still in his baffled state.

"R-Rui?" She asked nervously to her brother.

"The younger sister protected the elder brother and the other boy. Risking her own life... That's a genuine bond! I want it!" Rui almost yelled. His priorities were now to take Tanjiro's sister.

"You're... You're insane!" Earth heard his nonsense and didn't ever want to hand over Nezuko to him.

"W-Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Please! I'm your elder sister! Don't desert me!" The Older Sister Spider Demon cried out.

"SHUT UP!!!"

Rui lashed out his sister in annoyance and anger and swiped her in four pieces using his threads. The threads' strength also damaged what's behind her and knocking down some trees and stirring up dust.

"Just one swipe... can make that much damage...?" Earth's breath escaped him as he saw the scene and the sister's shredded body. "This is horrible... How could you do that to your elder sister...?"

"None of you ever managed to fulfill the roles you were given. Never. Not once." Rui glared at his sister.

"W-Wait." Her decapitated head spoke. "I was the elder sister you wanted, wasn't I?! Give me a chance to redeem myself!"

_'He wanted?'_ Earth had noted what she had said. _'So Tanjiro is right. They're bonds to each other is truly forged. Rui had taken some demons to become his family in the first place. But ever since they never fulfilled their roles well because they were.. too weak?'_

Rui wanted to tell her to go kill the people wandering the mountain. However, he vividly remembered the Mother Spider Demon, **Eiko Yukino**, and how she had betrayed Rui all for the sake of survival.

"In that case, I want you to go find Mother and bring her here. i have something I need to say to her about the thing the other boy told me. If you do that, I'll forgive you for what just happened."

"F-Fine..." Her body picked up her head. "I'll go find Mother and bring her here." She left the scene in search for their Mother.

_'Dammit! She's going to the direction where Fire left Eiko! Should I go after her?'_ Earth looked back at Tanjiro. His eyes telling him not to leave his side. _'Hopefully, she went away and hid somewhere. Maybe Fire or Water found her. Crap! What's gonna happen!?'_

"Boy..." Rui said. Tanjiro knew it was him he is talking about. "Boy, let's talk. Come on out."

_'Boy? Talk?'_ Tanjiro thought in confusion.

"Listen there, Rui. If you're thinking of what I'm thinking, then you had another thing coming!" Earth gritted his teeth.

"I wasn't talking to you, other boy." Rui looked at him and frowned. "If you want to die that badly, then I'll do it if you insist."

"Earth!" Tanjiro whisper-yelled. "What's he talking about?"

"Something worse than you can imagine." He answered.

Rui continued. "The thing is, I was really moved. Seeing the bond you three share gave me the chills. I doubt there are any words in this universe that can describe how moved I was. But now the only thing left for you is death by my hand. It would be sad if it were to come to pass, right?"

"What in the world are you saying?" Earth knew where this is going and he didn't like it.

"But there's just one thing." Rui held up a finger and brought it near his mouth. "Just one thing that will let you both escape that. Your sister... Give your sister to me. If you both hand her over without a fight, I'll at least spare your lives."

His statement made them flabbergasted. How Rui explained that he wants them to hand over Nezuko is just... unfathomable to think about. Which gives them enough a reason to never hand her over to someone for the likes of him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Tanjiro's eyes are trembling.

"Your little sister will be my little sister. Starting today." Rui said.

Tanjiro brings Nezuko closer to himself and holds her tight to not let her go. "You don't actually think I'd ever agree to that! Not to mention, Nezuko's not a thing! She has her own feelings and will! There's no way she'll ever be your sister!"

"It's all right. No need to worry. Because I'll create a bond between us. I'm stronger than you. I'm talking about the bond of terror. I'll teach her what will happen if she defies me."

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS CRAZY TALK!" Tanjiro exclaimed, angry at this boy's inability to understand. "USING TERROR TO SHACKLE SOMEONE HAND AND FOOT IS NOT THE BOND OF A FAMILY! UNLESS YOU FIX THAT BASIC MISUNDERSTANDING, YOU'LL NEVER GET WHAT YOU DESIRE!"

Earth stared at Tanjiro for a few seconds. _'He's really serious about this family business. He exhumed a sound of boiling anger towards Rui.'_

_'I knew what's it like being in a family too. It's something that's precious and never to be treated as something horrible. What Rui is doing, isn't the act of what family should do! He's delusional!'_

Rui remained unfazed. "So irritating. Would you mind not shouting? We don't see eye to eye, do we?"

Tanjiro dropped his box strapped in his shoulders and stepped out of spot to face Rui. "I'll never hand Nezuko over to you!"

He takes a stance. "Earth, make sure you have my back and watch out for his attacks! We'll take him down together!"

With that said, Earth smirked and puts his game face on. "You don't have to tell me twice, Tanjiro! I'm planning to!"

"That's okay, I guess. I'll just kill both of you and then take her."

"We'll cut off your head first!" Tanjiro declared.

Rui smiled. "That's the spirit! I'd like to see you try it." He put his hand on his face and revealed his other eye hidden from his hair. "That is, if you can actually defeat a **Twelve Kizuki** like me!"

His eye shows a number engraved on the Iris which labeled as **LOWER FIVE.**

"Family... A father has his role as the father, and the mother has her role as the mother. The parents protect the children, and the elder brother and sister protect their younger siblings. No matter what. At the risk of their own lives. The way I see it, if you don't understand your own role, there's no reason for you to live. What about you? What is your role? Your role is to relinquish your younger sister to me and disappear. If you can't do that, your only option is to die. Because you can't defeat me."

Earth widened his eyes after seeing Rui's eye. "A **Lower Five**... Tanjiro, you know what this means?"

He nodded and got the message clearly. "There's no doubt about it. This kid is a true **Twelve Kizuki**."

Earth looked down on his and Tanjiro's broken swords. "We're running out of options, Tanjiro. We saw how tough the threads are and we won't know how durable Rui's neck is at the moment. If it's stronger than the threads, we're gonna be in big trouble."

_'I'm not sure if we can take Rui down with our swords in this condition! Only Fire has the appropriate power to end it if he's here! I hope the others are okay! Please be okay!'_

"I don't like those looks in your eyes." Rui commented. "Glittering like that... What fools you are. Don't tell me..."

_'Huh? The threads' sound pattern changed?'_ Earth didn't see this one coming.

"...you think you're going to beat me?!" Rui yanked his threads from somewhere behind. Turning their heads around, they look to see Nezuko entangled in Rui's threads while they weren't looking.

"Nezuko!" Both of them yelled after her.

_'He must've used his threads to snuck up behind us while we're distracted by his taunts! How come I didn't see this one coming?!'_ Earth yelled and panicked in his mind.

Rui caught her in his arms and holds her in one arm and the other with his threads armed. "All right. I've taken her now. Now, do you recognize what your own role is?"

"Let her go!" They both lunged forward.

"But I told both of you I'd spare your lives, at least, if you didn't defy me." Rui reminded them but chose to go against it. Nezuko shapes her hand's fingernails into claws and clawed Rui's face to set herself free. However, he didn't flinch in pain nor give any reaction to her attack.

Tanjiro and Earth yelled their battle cries and sprinted to Rui. The latter flings his threads at them a bit faster than before. Thanks to their quick instincts, they stopped and backflipped away from danger. They recovered to see Nezuko not being held in Rui's arm anymore.

"Nezuko's gone?" Tanjiro asked dumbfounded. Not for long, blood oozes above and to their horror, Nezuko is hanging on some threads that binded her and digging into her flesh, making fresh blood to seep out.

"NEZUKO!!!" They cried out for the demon Kamado sibling.

"How dare you!?" Earth, despite keeping in touch with his emotions, had casted a look of boiling anger towards Rui.

"Stop that hollering. I'm sure that's not enough to kill her. After all, she's a demon. But it looks like I'll have to teach her a lesson after all. I'm going to let her bleed for a while. If she doesn't learn to be docile, I'll just leave her like that until daybreak... and let her roast a bit."

"You let Nezuko..." Tanjiro didn't think twice and ran again. "LET HER GO!"

"Tanjiro! You idiot! Don't go in recklessly!" Earth tried to reach out for him but it's too late. Tanjiro gets caught and hit by some threads. Only the minor ones hitting his haori and his uniform. He fell down on the ground harshly.

Rui made his way to Tanjiro and kicked his head that sent him flying and landed on a bush. Tanjiro coughed up blood by how much force the kick packed. Rui goes for a backward punch but Earth interfered and didn't let the punch connect to Tanjiro's face.

Thanks to his knowledge regarding in martial arts, Earth dodged some of Rui's one note attacks and barely escaped a surprise thread attack. Earth managed to score a few good hits to Rui's almost seemingly metallic face. When Earth's fist connected to his face, he felt like he hit a steel wall. He recoiled back in pain and checked his hand to see if there's blood on it. He got distracted by it and Rui took this opportunity to barrage him in an onslaught of attacks and sent him flying to a nearby rock.

"GAHH!" Earth vomited out blood. His eyes were almost bloodshot red from the hits he received by Rui. The latter then reached Tanjiro, lifted his hair up and was met by a punch to the gut, making Tanjiro tumble backwards.

"Look, you... I'm sure I'm mistaken, but..." Rui approaches Tanjiro. "You don't think that if you get close enough to me, you can chop off my head, do you?"

Tanjiro panted very hard for air. Earth is having a difficult time trying to get back up if it weren't for the blows Rui did to him.

"Fine by me. Here. Give it a shot." Rui gave Tanjiro a handicap and let himself get expose for decapitation. Tanjiro found enough strength to swing his broken sword but Rui dodged and jabbed him twice on the face. He rebounded back to direct his remaining blade on Rui's neck.

Somehow.

He did hit the blade.

The problem is.

His neck was hard as steel.

Tanjiro gasped at the revelation. _'The blade... won't go through!'_

"Hmph. Didn't I tell you?" Rui said then heard something coming up behind him. He didn't turn around though and let it happen. As what happened, Earth managed to sprang up on his spot a delivered his blade at his base neck, only to be in the same predicament as Tanjiro's.

"Both of you have no chance against me."

The pale demon kicked Tanjiro and punched Earth from behind and sent them far enough to various small hills that created a crater.

"My body is more durable than any thread I manipulate. If you can't even slash those threads, the two of you don't have a chance in hell of slashing my neck."

Meanwhile, Nezuko squirmed and screamed for them both but due to her muzzle it only comes out as cries of desperation. As the smoke clears up, it revealed Tanjiro barely surviving the impact and Earth trying to make an attempt to get up.

_'S-So powerful! His power is on a whole different level than any other demon I've fought! So, this is a Twelve Kizuki's... The power of a demon closely related to Kibutsuji?'_

Nezuko continued her screams and struggles in her web trap, which gained Rui's attention.

"You're making too much noise. Quiet down a bit."

Seeing her trying to escape somehow, Rui manipulated his threads and further damaged Nezuko's limbs. The threads continued to dig deep into her flesh, making her scream in agonizing pain.

"STOP THAT!" Tanjiro shouted.

"DON'T HURT HER!" Earth yelled from afar.

"I'm your elder brother now. Enough of that infernal wailing." Rui said.

Earth balled his fists too hard, his knuckles almost turned white. _'Don't be deceived by his taunts! If you do, you'll have yourself wrapped around his finger!'_

Nezuko couldn't handle the drastic pain and she passed out because of it.

"Did she pass out?" Rui lowered his arm. "Is she asleep? This demon has a unique aura. There's something about her that's not like the rest of us. Interesting."

The earth elementalist looked at Tanjiro. He looks like he's about to unleash his Breathing Form they didn't do back at the river with the Father Spider Demon.

_'That's right! The most precise, final Form! I never get to finish it back at the river. Well. It's now or never!'_

**_'Total Concentration!'_** They yelled in their heads and charged forward to the demon.

"You both still don't realize how futile it is?" Rui unleashed both of his threads in his hands and begins to battle them on a 1v2.

**_'Water Breathing! Tenth Form! Constant Flux!'_**

**_'Earth Breathing! Tenth Form!'_**

Tanjiro utilized his final and most powerful Water Breathing Form he can muster and rotated his body to form a literal water dragon on the edge of his blade and follows his sword's direction. The water dragon took on its form and roared.

Earth, on the other hand, also formed his own technique and dragged the blade on the ground and not for long, an almighty roar emerged underneath the ground, and a miniature sized earth dragon is seen following on the blade's direction. Earth's eyes glowed an ominous golden yellow before reverting back to brown.

**_'Mystic Earth Dragon Dance: Wyvern!'_**

Both of their swords clashed on the threads, and successfully slashed them off.

_'We slashed them! We were able to slash the threads!'_ Earth thought with confidence and spun around, gaining more rotation in his body to augment his wyvern's forceful power.

_'Gaining force with each rotation... This could be trouble, especially with two that can potentially hurt me.'_

Earth drags his two aching feet all for the sake of decapitating Rui. _'I gotta make sure this form hits Rui! I need to close the gap between me and Tanjiro to Rui then we can defeat him! Even if this is a straight-forward tactic, it's better than nothing!'_

As they were closing in on Rui, he had another thing in mind and remained calm in his place.

"Hey... You don't think these threads are at maximum strength, do you?" Rui extends his threads and coated it with blood from his hands. The entire line of threads became a crimson red or coated them with his own blood.

"**Blood Demon Art... Cutting Thread Cage.**" The threads created together to form multiple red web cages to envelope the Demon Slayers trapped within.

"I have no more use for you two. Goodbye." Rui manipulated his threads to compress the space between them.

_'No good! There's no time for me to slash the threads!'_ Earth worried with dread filling in his thoughts. _'These are giving off a totally different sound than the other threads!'_

_'But...! I can't die yet! I gotta...'_

But there's no way they can avoid an impossible, guaranteed kill. Even if the odds were in their favor, they wouldn't devise a way to actually take on Rui knowing he has been fighting them with only half of his power.

_'I gotta...'_

_'I...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_"BoBoiBoy..."_

BoBoiBoy, no longer in his Earth form, was in a white canvas. The blinding light almost made it's way into his eyes. After moments of adjusting his eyes on this unknown void, his brown caught sight of those familiar brown orbs he had not seen in a long time.

_"BoBoiBoy... how have you been..."_

BoBoiBoy couldn't believe what he's hearing. The voice... The familiar white streak on his hair. It all felt so real now. It all came crashing down on BoBoiBoy. The memories of his family resurfaced.

The person in front of him...

_"...my son?"_

...is his father.

**Amato**.

_"D-Dad...?"_ BoBoiBoy couldn't believe. It had been almost three years since he last seen his father.

_"Come here, BoBoiBoy."_ Amato calmly gestured BoBoiBoy to come towards him.

And so he did.

_"Dad..."_ BoBoiBoy embraced his father with tears leaking out his eyes. _"I missed you! And everyone back home!"_

Amato ruffled his son's hair. He noticed he almost reached his height, if only, on reaching his nose level. Amato patted him on the back and told him this.

_"BoBoiBoy... Breathe."_ Amato adviced his son, which earned him an eager and curious look.

_"Breathe? But Dad..."_

Amato puts his finger on his lips. _"I know what you're going to say."_

BoBoiBoy quieted down his muffled sobs and listened to his father, even if he's not here physically.

_"Right now, you're facing an enemy you have never seen before. The time when you fought with aliens will be different than fighting with demons, BoBoiBoy."_

He landed his palm on his son's shoulder.

_"Your original powers exist within you. Find me unbelievable to say it but have you noticed anything similar when you were training for your Breathing Forms?"_

BoBoiBoy raised an eyebrow and tried to absorb much thought in his head. He thought about his training in the mountains where Urokodaki's home is at, the wisteria house where he achieved Fire and Water, then at times he almost transformed into his Secondary Tier element, Thunderstorm.

He connected the dots. _"My powers... I had them the whole time?"_

Amato nodded. _"Of course, BoBoiBoy. How else would your breathing grant you back your First Tier elements like Earth, Wind, Lightning, Fire, and Water?"_

_"No way! There's absolutely no way!"_

The father of BoBoiBoy reached for his son's wrist and gestured it near his face.

_"Have a look at your power watch, BoBoiBoy."_

BoBoiBoy did as the asked and takes a look at the watch.

_"There's nothing, Dad."_

_"That's the point."_

_"Huh?"_ BoBoiBoy is now confused.

_"Your watch. It's not that you're finding your powers. It's more like it's transferring your powers in you. In other words, infusion."_

BoBoiBoy gasped. It's a lot to take in but he knew deep down, he understood what his father is trying to say to him _"And that's why you're telling me to breathe...?"_

Amato nodded. _"Go, my son. Tanjiro needs you, and control your breathing. If you master the correct way to breathe, you can do anything your mind desires."_

BoBoiBoy almost stifle another sob. He got to see his father one more time, but he was afraid he'll never see him again for the last time in his mind.

_"I will always be with you, BoBoiBoy. Take care... and goodbye... son."_

BoBoiBoy reached out his hand to grab his father one last time before enveloping in a comforting hug he needed the most.

And after that, they separated and Amato flashed away slowly in a twinkling manner.

Now it's just BoBoiBoy left.

_"Breathe..."_

He deeply inhaled in air.

_'Breathe...'_

He inhaled more air.

_'Relax yourself.'_

He composed himself to balance his breathing pattern.

_'Synchronize your mind, body and soul into one.'_

Once he's feeling the energy within him, he snapped back into reality.

And formed a new technique.

Tanjiro had done the same as well. Changing his Tenth Form into a next-level Breathing Style.

**Hinokami Kagura.**

Tanjiro's water dragon shifted its liquid state into a form of a flaming dragon until it dissolved into a flowing fire that follows Tanjiro's movement. This technique is what's known as **The Dance of The Fire God**, which is closer to **Sun Breathing**.

On the other hand, Earth's appearance had changed. His eyes which were brown in colour had changed into golden yellow. His haori had a shimmering pattern of yellow earthquake patterns plastered.

He no longer had those injuries plastered in his whole body as they recovered in mere seconds. Unbeknownst to everyone, his watch glowed golden yellow until it flashed the labels.

**Infusion complete. Secondary Tier and Third Tier transferred to host. Activating desired element.**

**EarthQuake.**

"**Quake Breathing, Tenth Form, Modified!**" Quake's arms had morphed into stony pieces of fragmented tough rocks with lava seeping out from the gaps between.

"**Mystic Earth Dragon Dance: Draconic Barrage!**"Quake's sword's blade had equipped the shape of his Earth Dragon's claws and slashed the threads with little to no effort. It was mostly Tanjiro that had done the cutting down of the threads but Quake provided more firepower.

_'The threads...'_ Rui is finally putting a lot of effort into making more threads around the forest to furhter his defenses.

But that doesn't stop them from trying. With Quake's **Modified Tenth Form** and Tanjiro's **Hinokami Kagura Dance** enabled, they rushed in forward with getting some cuts and blood to come along the way. Determination and adrenaline fueled their heart and soul.

_'Don't stop! Just keep on running! If you stop running, it'll bring on the repercussions of forcibly switching from Earth Breathing to Quake Breathing! When that happens, I'll be rendered immobile! Tanjiro sure seems to be thinking the same idea like I am!'_

_'That's why we need to do this now! Run! My Dad is watching me from afar! I'll make sure we'll get Rui and this will all be over!"_

Tanjiro and Quake let out their battle cries. They bounced and kept slashing on the threads while not even thinking of stopping. If they can defeat Rui, then this mission will be a success!

The Demon Slayers easily cut off the threads hindering their way, and not until they closed in the distance between themselves and Rui.

_'These guys...!'_ Rui sweats nervously and jumped back to pull himself away from him being almost decapitated. They rushed and spun around each other to get on equal footing and gaining distance. They continued to do this when the Demon Slayers spotted the Opening Thread attached on Rui's neck.

_'There it is! The Opening Thread!'_ They thought. _'This is it! He's vulnerable with the thread hanging there! We need to take him down now! Even if it means getting slashed by him at the same time!'_

On Nezuko's side, she still appeared to be sleeping but her mind is still awake.

_"Nezuko... Nezuko..."_ Kie Kamado appeared in Nezuko's void. _"Wake up, Nezuko."_

She gestured her hands near Nzuko's head. _"You have to save your brother and your friend. I know you can do it now, Nezuko. Do your best."_

Nezuko didn't respond.

Tears trailed down Kie's eyes. _"Please, Nezuko. Or they will be killed, too!"_

Having heard of that somehow, Nezuko snapped her eyes wide open and opened her palm that lit an ominous red glow.

_"**Blood Demon Art..."**_ The blood on the threads began to react by Nezuko's spell. _"**Exploding Blood!**"_

She gripped her hand and that caused the threads to burn from the blood she just casted. The blood had transformed into red hot flames and exploded. The flames are now gushing down to Rui who is holding the threads in his hands and the flames exploded in front of him.

"NOW!" Tanjiro and Quake exclaimed and came out from the flames and dragged their blades to clash onto Rui's steel neck.

_'No way! The threads burned and snapped!_' Rui could not believe what he is feeling. He had overwhelmed them in the beginning.

But now the tables had turned. They overwhelmed Rui in the end. There's no denying statement that will prove this isn't true.

"The bond between Nezuko and me... can't be..." Tanjiro's blade, mixed in with Nezuko's **Exploding Blood** technique, started to glow. "SEVERED BY ANYONE!"

"RUI!" Quake digs his blade into Rui's neck and stated. "IT'S OVER!"

When the Demon Slayers' blades finally severed Rui's neck, Tanjiro's **Hinokami Kagura Dance**'s attack released circular flames surrounding all of them then leaving small embers to be flown everywhere. Quake's **Modified Tenth Form**'s dragon had let out an almighty, massive roar, making the ground tremble a little and the miniature **Earth Dragon** flew around the flames after Quake delivering the slash.

And thus, the onslaught has been ceased.

The Demon Slayers had won the battle.

* * *

**[Massive shout-out to @NerdyGamer77 from Wattpad for providing the idea of BoBoiBoy Earth's Tenth Form! Please check out their latest book and please give them a follow for their wonderful support to this book!]**

**It's all thanks to the mentioned author above, I can finally think of where the story is going! And I'm really proud of how this turned out!**

**Out of all the chapters I released this is probably my longest chapter I have written before. In a word count that exceeded...**

**Wait for it...**

**OVER 9000!**

**I know. Overrated meme, that much?**

**I guess so. XD**

**And as always, thank you guys for reading this long chapter and I'll see you in the next one!**

**~ s a y o n a r a!**


	23. Pretend Family

_'I messed up! I messed up!'_ The Older Sister Spider Demon panicked while holding her hands on her head while running. _'And I was the only one who never messed up until now in this Pretend Family game!'_

A flashback of the Older Sister Spider Demon reminisced in her head. She is seen running away from someone and she was different than the current. Her eyes were black, her facial features were that of a normal human except her eyes and she wore a green kimono while running away from a bunch of Demon Slayers that are coming to slay her.

She lost her footing and fell down to the ground with a thud. Her eyes looked back at the Demon Slayers that surrounded her.

_"We finally drove her into a corner!"_ A male Demon Slayer, presumably the leader of his squad, said.

_"Hey, look at that."_ Another male Demon Slayer said as he told his squad to look at the house in the middle of the dense forest. On top of the peak of the house stood non other than Rui.

_"A demon?"_ He said.

_"It's just a kid."_ The leader said and narrowed his eyes at Rui. _"But even if it looks like a kid, it's still a demon! If we let it go, it'll devour humans!"_

Rui looked down on them then turned to talk to the demon girl. _"Hey... Hey... You want me to save you?"_

_"Eh?"_ She glanced up at the pale demon boy with uncertainty.

_"In return, will you do what I ask?"_ Rui offered her.

_"I'll do anything! I'll do whatever you want, so please save me!"_ She cried out for him desperately.

_"Then, become a part of my family."_ Rui declared, making an offer she can't refuse.

_"I will! I'll do it!"_ Without hesitation, she complied with his demand and was willing to become one of his family.

_"What are they talking about?"_ One of the Demon Slayers asked in confusion, having heard of their conversation.

The leader stepped up, sword in hand, ready to decapitate the demoness. _"All right, it's over for you!"_

But before he can ever do such a thing, Rui used his threads hidden in the trees and sliced every Demon Slayers in the vicinity into pieces in only a blink of an eye. The demon girl stood up, spectating the dead remains of the leader and his broken sword, then back towards the house with all the family members of Rui.

She looked at them with wonder on her eyes. She didn't imagine a family like this. Her wavering eyes eventually calmed down when she felt her hand being grabbed gently by Rui, who walked beside her.

_"Welcome."_ Rui continued. _"Starting today, you're part of my family, too."_

They all welcomed her in with open arms with Rui leading the way. She reluctantly abided his way and followed him inside while the others went to their ways inside the household. She wondered why they haven't spared a solemn look at her like they weren't excited to see a new family member being accepted by Rui.

And one thing is bothering her. They were bonded. Demons never bond and be with each other.

It's a mystery she must solve on her own.

Rui and a female spider demon had led her into a room with little lighting and a place where she can be accepted as one of them. Rui cut his thumb as little as possible and blood seeped out from it. He positioned his thumb into a bowl used for Saké and changed the water into pure red liquid blood.

_"Drink this."_ The female spider demon brought the blood-filled water to her. _"Our family's power belongs to Rui."_

She took the water from the female demon and gazed longingly to it.

_"Since we were all weak demons, Rui shared his power with us. Because Rui is one of **that person's** favorites, he gets special permission to do this kind of thing."_

After hearing of that short explanation, the demoness looked down once again with hesitancy, not before drinking it because she had already made up her mind.

After drinking it, however, her body begins to twitch violently and made her drop the plate where she drank the blood-filled water. Veins popped up on her neck area and her eyes swerved everywhere.

_"Do you feel it? You don't have to fear those demon hunters anymore."_ Rui stood up and approached her. _"Now then, time for the finishing touches."_

He grabbed her face then started to tear it off, making her scream in agonizing pain. Blood flowed down her kimono by Rui continuously ripping off her face in the most gruesome way possible.

What supposed to be a minute that the process was done. She was seen gasping and felt all her pain washed away slowly.

_"All right, you can look up now."_

She did it as she was told and removed her hands from covering her face. Her face did an entire make-over. She no longer have the black eyes with cat-like slits and instead was replaced with eyes that are pure white with only her silvery pupils separating them from her sclera. Her usual black hair had changed into wavy long silver hair that only flows down her back. Her face morphed that would match the spider family that possesses several red dots on her face.

_"Congratulations. You're truly part of the family now."_ Rui announced.

Afterwards, every member of the spider family had gathered up in one room to partake in the whole dinner act. They sat in silence with no extra movement with empty plates placed in front of them.

_"We're only playing house."_ The **Elder Sister Spider Demon** said with the newly recruited spider demon.

_"What?"_ She asked.

_"We have no blood ties. We're just a clan of assorted strangers."_ She admitted. Her eyes went to the two people outside of her window and spectated what's going on.

_"I'm so sorry!"_ What sounded like a little girl's voice. _"I'll do better, Rui! I'll practice! Forgive me!"_

It was **Eiko Yushino** in her original form. Apparently, she made a mistake and reverted back into her real form, much to Rui's disappointment.

_"I'm so sorry I couldn't do it well! It's just that I revert by accident sometimes!"_ She pleaded.

Rui didn't heed to her pleas and strangled her using his thread. She suffered for about 10 seconds until Rui decided to stop to make her breathe.

_"I don't want to hear your excuses, Mother."_ Rui warned. Eiko coughed a few times then forcefully reverts back to her voluptuous form. _"Play the role of mother like you should."_

_"I know what I must do, Rui."_

Rui then walked away, leaving her in her own thoughts to wander.

_"We were all so scared of the demon hunters and just wanted companions."_ She continued after watching their little scene. _"It's not like we wanted to take part in this baffling Pretend Family game."_

_"But those who fail to go along with Rui's demands and orders get carved up or have their intellect taken from them or get strung up, exposed to the sunlight. I've had enough of this."_

The Older Sister Spider Demon didn't care what she had said and thought about it. Rui had taken her in willingly and saved her from being killed by the Demon Slayer. If there is anything she'll do for Rui, she'll accept anything what he says.

_"I'm going to pretend I never heard you say that—"_

_"I know you're not a fool."_ The other demon admitted. _"Unlike all the others. Let's run away together."_

She finally faced her fully. _"I wouldn't say this to anyone but you. You're the one person I truly think of as my younger sister."_

The Elder Sister Spider Demon held out her hand, opting the other one to take it. Her intentions were clear by the look on her eyes. She wanted to escape, escape from this Hell Rui created for her.

However, the older sister had other plans regarding that.

The next day, two sisters were seen running from the forest, away from the house while holding their hands and running in unison.

_"Tomorrow, Rui is going to be summoned by **that person** and descend the mountain. That's our chance to escape."_

To say that her plan had backfired when they find Rui standing their only escape route. The elder sister was shocked. How did he know of their plan when she knew he was going to be summoned by Muzan?

And that's when she realized, the older sister had betrayed her. She let go of her hand that was intertwined with her own and walked towards Rui by his side. The elder sister couldn't believe it. She had trusted her sister. Only to be betrayed in the end. The look of despair and betrayal is seen on her face.

The next thing she knew, Rui carved her up in threads and hang her at the top of the house, waiting for the sun to rise. Her bloodied figure was shown and she's still audibly alive. If she hadn't become a demon, all those wounds would potentially kill her.

_"How disappointing."_ Rui sighed and walked away with the older sister tagging behind him. With another one last look at the elder sister, she can feel her sadness and hopelessness. And for once, she felt a bit guilty she did this. And it's the first time she feels a sense of guilt from her own actions against her own kind. Normally, people wouldn't do this for the sake of their own love ones.

But aside from it, she's a demon.

And demons don't feel sympathy towards one another.

She'd do anything to survive, with or without Rui.

She snapped out of her trance when she sees Rui waiting for her. Not wanting to waste time, she dismissed her own thoughts and leave the elder sister to rot in her own imminent demise.

Speaking of the elder sister, she still fathomed of the idea of being betrayed by the only one who she truly calls as her own. It was so... indescribable to say at least. When she puts all her trust into her, she felt at ease for the first time. When she was being deceived in the end, that's when she knew.

Her dream for yearning for freedom.

The very exact moment she wanted to be free.

Had been taken away.

All because she was betrayed by her family member, her sister.

She then cried for the last time in her last moments and before the sun completely consumes her in a fiery form, not leaving any traces of her in those flames.

_'They were all fools, but I'm not like them! Even so, I messed up!'_ She exclaimed in her mind then thought about the incident involving Eiko and Blaze. She watched them in the shadows and was deeply enthralled of why a Demon Slayer decided not to kill her straight away.

Which brings her to one new thought.

_'That boy from back there... He looked exactly the same as the one I saw with Mother! That red one, and the one in brown! Who are they?'_

Her mind reeled back to the one in brown, specifically, to BoBoiBoy Earth.

_'He looked at me with those eyes. Those eyes that held no killing intent. But aren't demon hunters suppose to be wrathful? Don't they despise demons as much as they are? Also, that red headed boy...'_

She gripped her head even harder than before.

_'Gahhh! I can't understand what they are and what they're doing anymore!'_

She kept on running and still kept on marking her own objective, which is to find their Mother that had spilled the beans. If she were to go off and escape the forest on her own without following Rui's orders, he'll have her by the thread and string her up and let daybreak do its work like what Rui did to the rest of his fake family members.

She caught sight of Murata walking to what his mind sets him to.

"A demon!" Murata had his blade ready and looked at the Older Sister Spider Demon.

She then proceeded to swarm him using her new **Blood Demon Art** and wrapped him in her ball filled with what looks like hair, yarn, and threads.

"What the...!?" Murata is trapped inside the ball and tried to get himself out by poking his sword to the threads itself.

"It's futile. You'll never cut through them." She stated with a smirk. "You see, my **Ball of Yarn** may feel soft, but it's extremely hard."

"Whaaa...!!" Murata frightfully screamed as acid-like substances filled inside his cocoon-ed prison.

"First, the solvent will melt those clothes out of the way. And then, it'll be your turn. You'll be reduced to mush in no time, and then I'll feed on you."

She explained not long before she felt a presence of someone leaning on her from behind.

"How amazing! Do you release those threads from the palms of your hands?"

Ice appeared behind Shinobu and then looked at the **Ball of Yarn** the Older Sister Spider Demon produced. His ears perked up when he heard someone inside the cocoon screaming for help.

"Someone's inside!" Ice unsheathes his sword and slashed the ball but only for the slice to ricochet due to the ball's angle and durability.

"Good evening. The moon is quite lovely tonight, don't you think?" Sinobu asked the demon and not implying the other meaning to her sentence, which she said to Giyu.

The demon girl bounced away from Shinobu and unleashed more of her threads against the Insect Hashira. Shinobu gracefully evaded the threads with relative ease. She followed it up with a pounce and kicked her multiple times until the demon girl surrendered to her few kicks and fell down on the ground with Shinobu on the top, pinning her down.

"That was awesome!" Ice watched her the entire time and got back trying to crack open the ball.

_'I need to freeze it to soften the ball's exterior. It'll shatter once I put one good slash on it.'_ Ice begins to breathe air and unleashed a soft blow to the ball.

**_'Ice Breathing, Fifth Form, Frozen Ice Cover.'_** He tapped his sword at the ball and ice begins to take form at the the very same spot he tapped. The ice encased the ball until it fully covered head to toe. With one final slash at the ball, Ice successfully freed the trapped person inside.

"W-What happened?" Murata asked while shivering from the drop of temperature he suddenly felt while inside. He looked up to see BoBoiBoy Ice staring down at him.

"BoBoiBoy!" Murata was delighted and relieved to see him again and didn't notice this is not the same BoBoiBoy he was looking at.

_'I guessed he met my other selves. I have no idea who this guy is.'_ Ice thought.

"I can see you have no intention of being my friend." Shinobu said in her usual sweet tone.

"W-W-Wait! I beg of you! I'm being forced to do this! If I defy him, I'll be slashed to shreds!" She pleaded and panic arose within her.

_'Him? Who is that?'_ Ice thought since he wasn't with the gang at that time.

"Oh? Is that right?" Shinobu played along with her little act. "That does sound tragic! I'll spare you! Let's be friends!"

_'Is Lady Shinobu serious!?'_ Ice couldn't believe what he just heard. Unbeknownst to Ice, a certain elementalist had already done this similar act to another demon.

"Y-You're going to spare me?" She asked with doubt.

"Yes! But in order for us to be friends, I must ask you a few questions." Shinobu looked at her victim dead-straight in the eyes. "Sweet young girl, how many people have you killed?"

The demon girl leaked tears and gave her answer. "Five." She looked away to the side. "But I was ordered to! I had no choice!"

"Wrong." Ice said, earning stares from Shinobu and the demon girl. "How can you say that when you turned away from someone's eyes like that? Lady Shinobu and I came from the west and spotted multiple hanging cocoons."

She kept up her facade. "But..."

"On the west side of the mountain, I counted at least fourteen hanging cocoons that are all killed inside, all liquefied. Plus, I have incredible hearing senses. So I can depict your tone of voice if what you say is untrue."

Shinobu is impressed by his explanation. She never knew Ice had an ability to detect lies. Even knowing the statement he said, she reconfirm.

"And had she said anything truthful?"

Ice shook his head.

"None."

Shinobu smiled. "You can't counter your way out of this one, my dear."

Her mask begins to break and she displayed physical fear on her asked With two people that can overpower her and deduce her, there's no way she can get out of this one. It's a lose-lose situation.

"On the bright side, my dear, we're only trying to confirm the accurate toll because the punishment you'll be receiving is based on that scale alone. Fourteen humans. All dead. But of course, it's not that I'm angry or anything."

Ice chose not to say it, but in his head, her voice barely holds in her inner emotion that she wanted to blurt out but somehow, she didn't show it.

'Clearly not, I'm afraid. There's something off about Lady Shinobu. I just can't put my finger into it.'

"What good will it do you to confirm that?" The demon girl asked and keeping up with the lying.

"As for the punishment I mentioned, you'll receive a penalty you deserve and be reborn!"

"Reborn?"

"That way, you and I can become friends. If you go unpunished, after having taken all those lives, your victims will never get justice." Shinobu placed her index finger and thumb on her eye and brimmed it open slightly.

"I could gouge out your eyeballs or slash your stomach to rip out your organs. For every person you've killed, I shall torture you. And after you've suffered through all of the pain and agony, your sins will be forgiven."

Shinobu gave a playful look at Ice.

"BoBoiBoy, dear! Will you gladly assist me into doing some sweet methods to our poor girl here? Her actions are unjustified and we need fo correct her for it by doing what I'll say. Will that be okay for you?"

Ice flinched. He never thought he get an opportunity to those things he wouldn't do in his life. He may be a cold person, both figuratively and literally, but his heart isn't.

"I can't do that. Sorry." Ice declined her request, much to her own amusement.

"I see. Such a shame you would miss out on a chance like this to a demon you loathe so badly." She brings her attention back at the older sister.

"Anyways, let's both give it our all! Don't worry! Since you're a demon, my dear, surely it won't kill you and neither will there be any after effects!"

The demon girl snapped, having enough of Shinobu's insane methods. "Who do you think you're kidding?! Die! You damn witch!"

She released a whole volley of threads towards Ice and Shinobu. The latter gracefully flew away from harm and the former jumped back in order not to get swarmed by the threads.

"Hey, you! We'll be taking care of this from now on! Get to someplace safe!" Ice told and warned Murata. Murata nodded and stood back near to some trees and let them handle the situation at hand.

"I can see that we'll never be friends." Shinobu said with a menacing look when she landed and clicks the hilt of her thin sword. "Oh, what a pity!"

She turned around to cast one more Blood Demon Art at them. Her vision was blocked when Ice got right up her face and slashed her shoulder, making her gasp in pain.

"Hold her in place, BoBoiBoy!" Shinobu commanded.

Ice nodded and channeled his breathing.

"**Ice Breathing, Fifth Form, Winter Hollow.**" Ice begins to trap her by encasing her feet in ice. The ice still spreads everywhere and almost got Murata by an inch if he hadn't move.

_'I'm trapped! How did he conjure up ice!?'_ She thought and her eyes swerved everywhere for the Insect Hashira. She didn't see her until she saw a looming shadow above her. Shinobu delivered her attack with imaginable butterflies accompanying her moves.

In some sort of trance, the Older Sister Spider Demon stood, without the ice encasing her feet, and watched as the butterflies swift and flew away past her. She looked back at the fleeing butterflies when one is still flying towards her. She held her hand up and the butterfly descended on her hand. She gave a solemn look at the butterfly, wondering what it can do, what it's purpose is. Her eyes widen as the butterfly turned red and coated with blood. It's not the butterfly's blood.

It's her own.

Her head was covered by her own blood, not wondering where it came from since she didn't feel the pain. Her kimono leaked blood from specific spots. When she came back to reality, she was already bleeding by the time she realized.

"**Insect Breathing, Butterfly Dance... Caprice.**"

Ice was in awe. He saw the whole thing unfolding and was enthralled by the wonderful technique performed by Shinobu. Meanwhile, one thought lingered in his mind.

_'Her Breathing Technique is graciously beautiful... and dangerous. Yet, she didn't cut off her head! Did she intend to do that?'_

It didn't take a moment for him to examine her sword from afar and was baffled to see how incredibly thin it is.

_'Is it possible that... she can't behead demons? Crap! That means she has no arm strength to give a precise slash to decapitate demons! If she can't behead her, I'll have to do it then!'_

Shinobu had noticed him taken a stance. "BoBoiBoy. Stop right there."

"Huh?" Ice stared at her in disbelief. "Lady Shinobu, forgive me for this but I can't allow her to kill us! I have to kill her if I—"

She held up her hand and gestured for him to calm down.

"Watch."

Confused, Ice did as she told him and looked at the demon girl. She raised her hand up, about to unleash threads upon Shinobu. Ice almost intervened and tried to prevent her from doing it until, the inevitable happened.

Her hand twitched and her body felt like it was going to melt. Purple spots gushes its way to her body and she gave out a quiet yet painful scream. The veins on her body aren't doing anything to stop it as it just adds the pain factor of pressuring her body to its limit.

In short, she was poisoned.

"Holy—" Ice covered his mouth and tried not to puke at the sight of her spurting out blood from around her and fell limp to the ground. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, signifying that she is declared dead.

"You mustn't think you're safe just because you haven't been beheaded. Because there are swordsmen like me who use poison." Shinobu then expertly twirled her sword around like it's her prized possession. She stopped twirling her sword around and posed gracefully.

"**Demon Slayer Corps, Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho.** I may be the only swordswoman among the Hashiras unable to decapitate demons, but as I've created a poison lethal to demons, I'm also rather awesome."

Ice, having heard of her introduction and a hint of boasting, couldn't take his eyes off of the deceased spider demon. It led him to the point that he needs to get used to seeing death around his every corner. But the display in front of him is just too cruel and brutal. He could've prevented this to happen, but then again, she killed lots of humans in the past. There is no remorse in his heart that says about this.

But his nature to sense good in people had him a little messed up. As BoBoiBoy, he would save the ones who he deemed to be worth saving, like his old frienemies; Adu Du and Probe from the monster who had EggaBot.

"Is something the matter, my dear?" Shinobu had approached him from behind when she noticed him frozen in his spot.

"I... I just... It's horrible... seeing how this would end... like that." Ice made a gesture as he looked at her, poisoned and in her final moments as she struggled for survival.

"In the end, not every demon is as evil as you think they are, right? They're just like us, wanting nothing but to live, away from all the dangerous people. But what more can we do for them besides killing them?"

Shinobu doesn't understand his wording about demons, but she felt some sort of... sad feeling coming from BoBoiBoy Ice. The way his tone sounded, it was like he had done something like this a long time ago.

"If there's any good I can do for her, it would be someone who has to do the right thing." He knelt down near the poisoned girl.

"BoBoiBoy?" Shinobu's smile faltered and looked at him and what he's about to do. She gasped when he actually closed her mouth and her eyes and prayed for her. And by the time he's done, he stood back, hands in his pockets.

In all her times when she did missions with other Demon Slayers, not one of them stick out like a sore thumb and all they care about is the rank, money, and fame. Right now, she just witnessed an act of true compassion from BoBoiBoy Ice to a demon. It's not something she sees everyday.

"Lady Shinobu?" Ice waved at her face. Snapping out of her thoughts, she put on a smile too forced and noticeably detected by Ice.

"I'm sorry for spacing out, BoBoiBoy. Come! We shall be looking for your friends as well!"

It really bugs him to think that Shinobu is putting on her personality a bit too well but decides not to pursue that part of the topic yet.

Murata walks forward to Ice after spectating them from the sidelines.

"BoBoiBoy..." Murata asked. "You... You gave pity to a demon?"

Ice didn't speak but gave a nod as a reply.

"Why?! Why go as far as to do that?! Demons do nothing but to kill and eat humans and not give a damn about it! Was it a good idea to just give your sympathy to the beings that brutally killed hundred of humans?!" Murata exclaimed in pure shock.

Ice stayed silent, not knowing how to reply to that question. His hair foreshadowed his facial expression. Shinobu felt the tension resonating in the air and cuts it off.

"Pardon me but we will be going to our next destination to find the rest of the Demon Slayers and slay more demons. In the meantime, why don't you go back to the east? There are a lot of Kakushi waiting."

Murata gave one long stare at Ice before deciding to head to the direction Shinobu had pointed at. If they complete this mission, she'll have plenty more time to ask BoBoiBoy a lot of questions concerning this matter.

"Now then, as for the whereabouts of the demon that forced this girl to do his bidding... Did Tomioka beat me to it, then?"

The mention of Giyu sparked Ice's ears. He heard his name before. 'Tomioka... Why does it sound familiar?'

"BoBoiBoy, are you coming?"

Ice didn't look at her general direction and pocketed his hands. Shinobu sighed and deciding that running wouldn't be an option right now with how Ice is in this state right now.

"Why is everyone so difficult to understand of what demons feel...?" Ice mumbled under his mouth. Shinobu fortunately didn't heard it and that's fine by him. He followed her into the woods in search for the rest of his friends.

* * *

Back to Tanjiro, Nezuko and BoBoiBoy EarthQuake, with their efforts on defeating Rui, they succumbed to their fatal wounds and fell harshly on the cold ground. The threads had burnt off due to Nezuko's leftover flames from her Blood Demon Art technique. As for Quake, even if his injuries were healed, he succumb to fatigue from the Tenth Form he unleashed on Rui.

"Nezuko...! Nezuko...!" Tanjiro, like a caring big brother as he is, crawled his way to Nezuko's spot when she fell from her hanging spot.

"Tanjiro... W-We won...! We won... somehow...!" Quake chuckled. Tanjiro sighed heavily and chuckled along with him.

"Your new Breathing Technique is so awesome...! I never knew that... you can unleash fire breathing like... me." Quake said in between breaths.

"I'm not sure... how I pulled it off...! My father saved me...! I'm not sure I was able to... unleash that attack with the... kagura that's been in our family... for generations. But that was what saved me!"

"Oh yeah...? Well, my dad also saved me too... I was able to tap in... my Secondary Tier form... in the last second..."

Tanjiro widened his eyes. "You have Secondary Tier forms?"

Quake nods. "I guess... you didn't listen everything... to what I said to Mr. Urokodaki... back then."

He frowned. "You never mentioned that you had—have... Secondary Tier forms."

"Could've asked."

Tanjiro tried to stand up. Clearly not since he's struggling not to be weak for Nezuko nor Quake but the pain is overwhelming.

"Tanjiro..." Quake stood up, ignoring his exhaustion and slung Tanjiro's arm around his neck. "You can't move right now... You gotta rest."

"But Nezuko... I can't just leave her like that." Tanjiro squinted his eyes to see Nezuko but it came out too blurry for him to see.

"I can't see anything. Is it because... I took way too many breaths...?" Tanjiro gripped his chest when his ears experienced ringing and his body throbbed in pain.

"Tanjiro! Are you alright?!" Quake mentally slapped himself for asking that stupid question. Of course, he isn't alright!

"You gotta stop pushing yourself! And stop moving around so much!" Quake's extreme mother mode takes in effect. It's a quirk he developed for being the caretaker of the whole group.

"Not yet...! Not until we get to... Inosuke...! We're still not yet done fighting!"

"Tanjiro, I'm worried about them like you are but how can we go rescue them in your condition like this? You can't even stand on your own two feet!" Quake reasoned. Not to encourage Tanjiro but reminding him of his own limits. He's only human and not a superhuman for goodness sake.

Afterwards, there's a feeling that made all of their hairs stand up. Quake and Tanjiro knew this so well.

"Hey Tanjiro, you feel what I felt...?" He whispered.

"Yeah..."

"When we kill demons, they usually dispersed in ashes. And I hear no ashes being wafted in the air."

"Don't tell me... Don't tell me that...!"

Footsteps approached them from behind. Quake looked behind and was beyond surprised to what he is seeing right now. Rui's headless body is seen walking towards them.

"Even though we chopped his head off?!" Tanjiro was baffled.

"There's no way! Impossible!" Quake thought the same.

"You thought you two had defeated me? Poor kids. Did your pathetic delusion bring you joy? I cut off my own head myself with my own threads... before you could chop it off." Rui's head was attached to some threads and his body slowly grabs it and placed it back to where his head is at.

_'Cuts his own head off? But there was no way he could've done that that fast! We had him by the neck before he can do something like that! Does it mean he's lying to prove he's right?'_ Quake thought. He never considered this option until today since demons hadn't thought of severing their own necks off.

"I'll kill you both and your sister. I haven't been this enraged in a long time." Rui's raging tone is clear in their ears.

"Rui...!" Quake gritted his teeth. "Don't you ever shut up?!"

"What was that?" Rui narrowed his eyes at Quake. "Better pick your words carefully. I will show you no mercy if you mess with me."

He laid Tanjiro behind himself and Quake unsheathes his sword. No matter how tired he is, his battle spirit never gets tired.

"You and me! Right now!" Quake took a stance.

"You're already too late." Rui prepared his threads, which are thickly coated in red by his own blood. "You'll be dead by the time I'm done with him."

"What?" He didn't react fast enough as a threads were encircling them both.

"**Blood Demon Art... Murderous Eye Basket!**" Rui casted as the threads were nearing their bodies. Quake had to crouch as to not get entangled in the deadly threads.

_'Calm down, Quake! You can get out of this alive! If I can get out of this, I can save Tanjiro!'_ He was about to cut the threads but realizes his sword's condition. _'Damn! I forgot my sword's broken!'_

The threads are now dangerously close.

_'Is this it...?'_

The threads got to Quake.

_'Are we really going to die...?'_

Massive blood spewed out from Quake.

_'Dad... I'm sorry...'_

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"**Blaze Breathing, Seventh Form, Flare Blitz Cut!**"

Flames were seen emitting on the threads, making the red threads glow with its natural light, until they dissolved into nothing but a flow of burning remains.

"Earth!" Blaze rushed over to Quake and hugged him in his arms.

Giyu Tomioka also arrived in the same fashion as BoBoiBoy Blaze, by taking care of Tanjiro with his troublesome threads using his Water Breathing.

"W-Who..." Quake's eyes were a bit blurry but he can make out a pair of orange orbs staring intensely at his golden yellow eyes.

"Earth, are you okay?! Say something! Anything!" Blaze gently shook him to see if Quake can give a physical response. So far, his hand is the only thing that's moving.

"F-Fire...?" Quake's voice was raspy.

"Oh thank god!" Blaze hugged him tightly for almost losing him. "And it's Blaze for your information."

Quake can only smile at that. "And it's Quake you're talking to... Not Earth..."

Fire couldn't handle the urge to smile widely. "So you did it too, huh?"

Earth grinned back. "Yeah."

Blaze gently put Quake right beside Tanjiro and stood beside Giyu, ready to take on Rui.

"You both did a good job holding out until we got here." Giyu applaud for their efforts.

"Rest easy guys. We'll be handling this now." Blaze prepared his blade at the pale demon.

"You're like an endless stream... of lowlifes always getting in my way!" Rui said, annoyed.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to Eiko, Rui!" Blaze fully had his blade prepared and took a fighting stance.

"**Blood Demon Art... Cutting Thread Rotation!**" Rui gathers his threads and formed a huge rotational volume of lethal threads at them.

"Mr. Tomioka, what now?" Blaze asked the Water Hashira on what to do.

"Stand beside me."

Blaze nodded and stood exactly beside him.

"**Total Concentration... Water Breathing... Eleventh Form... Dead Calm.**" Giyu entered in a state of complete defence to counter, deflect and block Rui's ultimate technique.

_'Whoa! What is this?'_ Blaze felt a sense of relief whenever he's in Giyu's range. _'It's totally deadly calm in here. I guess I don't have to move an inch 'cause here it comes.'_

"Eleventh Form?" Tanjiro and Quake said.

"Who cares about your Eleventh Form?!" Rui yelled and continued to charge his attack towards his opponents. By the time the threads made their way to their desired targets, they were immediately snapped whenever it had gotten near Giyu.

_'That was awesome!'_ Blaze cheered. _'Mr. Tomioka rules!'_

_'What? What's going on? What did he do? The instant I got up in their face, the threads scattered.'_ Rui was astonished. _'Not one of them reached him? The toughest threads of all got slashed?'_

"That's impossible!" Rui exclaimed and prepares for another technique. "One more time!"

"Blaze, now." Giyu prompted him and he understood.

"**Blaze Breathing, Third Form!**"

His sword powered up in flames. Blaze made a mad dash at Rui in a blink of an eye and darts past him with his head, already decapitated.

"**Infernal Hunt!**"

* * *

**Finally! After all the days I've been procrastinating and being lazy, I finally have the motivation to actually finish this chapter! I'm sorry it took so long to publish. Sometimes, you just need to take constant breaks whenever inspiration decides to yeet off my head.**

**Getting closer to meeting the Hashiras, ey? Only one more chapter to go until we do! Also, I wanna include a character after the whole Spider Arc has been completed. I can't tell who yet cus that would ruin the fun now, would it? :3**

**Hope you guys enjoyed reading and I'll see y'all later.**

**~ s a y o n a r a**


	24. Against Corps Rules

"Nezuko... Nezuko!" Tanjiro crawled forward to his unconscious sister. Unable to get up due to him unleashing Hinokami, the only movement control he had over himself is his arms.

Rui's slashed head fell slowly while looking at Kamado siblings and the other BoBoiBoy.

EarthQuake made a sloppy attempt to balance himself up despite being healed of his wounds. It didn't exactly recover his fatigue and he found himself collapsing back again to the ground next to Tanjiro and Nezuko.

_'I'll kill them! I'll kill them! I'll kill those siblings no matter what! Siblings!'_

Blaze sharpened his sword and wiped out any blood that seeped to his blade and immediately reformed back to the fallen trio. Blaze cautiously took close watch of Rui's decaying, ashened body slowly stepping to their spot with his arms outstretched at them.

_"What is it that you want to do, Rui?"_ The fake mother, Eiko, asked to Rui in his own mind. _"What do you mean by family?"_

Rui, with his body fully intact, answered truthfully. _"I don't know. Because I have no memories of when I was human."_

_"Is that why you made us pretend to be your family?"_ She asked then as if on cue, illusions of the previous spider family members appeared behind her, all staring at Rui.

_"I thought that if I could feel a family bond, my memories would come back. The bond of a real family..."_

With all these happening, his eyes stared at the Kamado siblings in front of him. Tanjiro shielding Nezuko from any further harm even if it is Tanjiro the only injured person among them.

_'That's right. I...'_

"Nezuko..." Tanjiro muttered and kept holding on tight on Nezuko.

_'I...'_

* * *

_Three kids at around the age of 7-10 were seen having a snowball fight. The looks of happiness spread all over their faces as they continue to throw each other the frozen projectiles of snow. One kid stood away from all the fun and looked at the spectacle in front of him._

_This kid is Rui._

_Rui had jet black unkempt hair like his spider demon form. He has dark purple eyes and were wide as he stared at the scene. He never knew what it feels like to have fun because he wasn't allowed outside all the time._

_Rui wanted to be with the kids and experience what it is like to have fun. He tried to walk, but his frail body already gave weight and he fell on the soft snow face first. Rui coughed continuously underneath the snow until he finds the energy to roll around the snow and sets his eyes towards the sky._

_He laid there for what seemed to be like an eternity for him. Later, a female voice rang in his ears and belonged to Rui's mother as she is running at him._

_"Rui! Rui!" She yelled and gotten closer to him at the ground. "Rui! What are you doing?! You know you're not supposed to be outside!"_

_Time skipped and he is seen sitting up on his futon, contemplating on his life being weak._

_'I was always very frail ever since I was born. I'd never even run. Just walking was a struggle. Until **Master Muzan** appeared.'_

_Rui sensed a presence near his side and turned to look at the first demon that had ever existed; **Muzan Kibutsuji.** His appearance was different compared to his present look. He is shown to be wearing a white suit and slick black hair._

_"You pitiful thing. Let me save you." Muzan said and offered Rui a chance that will change his whole world upside down._

_'My parents weren't happy about it. Because now that I'd acquired a strong body, I could never expose myself to sunlight, and I had to devour humans.'_

_Rui's father opened a sliding door to reveal a mutilated human carcass. "What have you done? What on earth have you done? Rui!"_

_Rui's mother was behind the father while burying her face on her face, sobbing for seeing what Rui had done. Rui just murdered a person, a human being._

_Because he was a demon._

_'Long ago, I heard a wonderful story. There was once a father who died trying to save his drowning child. I was deeply moved. Such astounding parental love. And such a bond, as well. This father who drowned in the river had fulfilled his role as a parent. And yet, for some reason, my own parents...'_

_Rui's father sniffles as he holds a knife intended to... kill his own child. A child that had changed into a demon for a reason the father doesn't quite know yet. He positioned the knife's blade to thrust it onto Rui._

_'My own parents tried to... kill me.'_

_The mother sobbed behind the father. The decision of killing Rui weighed heavily on their shoulders but they knew the risk of letting him live longer would make him dangerous and kill other innocent people._

_As parents, they need to take care of their child one last time._

_'All my mother did was sob, never lifting a finger to protect me as I was about to be killed.'_

_Rui was sleeping soundly, completely drown out from today's events like it was nothing. But until recently, he had never felt this dull in his whole life. Even when he killed a person, he didn't look surprised. He just shrugged it off as something as a feast waiting to be devoured for him, since he was a demon._

_But when his parents found out, he didn't know what to do. He hoped they find a way to atone for his sin of commiting a murder._

_However, he didn't expect as something as this._

_A shadow loomed above Rui._

_Rui opened his eyes._

_And a stabbing sound can be heard._

_Blood ooze from the floor._

_'They must've been imposters. The bond between us wasn't real.' He stared at the moon after he dealt with his real parents in a gruesome way ever. The blood didn't came from Rui. It came from them._

_"Sorry..." His mother muttered weakly._

_'She's saying something. So, she's still alive?' Rui thought._

_"...for not giving you a strong, healthy body. I'm so sorry..." Tears fell from her eyes and Rui's mother finally admitted to Rui for not giving him what he had wanted. Afterwards, she already succumbed to her fatal wounds and passed away, knowing that she finally said what she wanted to say to Rui._

_His eyes widen in realization. 'Those were my mother's last words before she died. She died...'_

_Before the father died, he told him. "It's all right, Rui! We're going to die with you!"_

_'I was so enraged that he'd tried to kill me that my father's words went over my head. But in that moment, I realized that he meant to die with me to atone for my sin of having to murdered another. It was a genuine bond.'_

_A piece of rope, which is suppose to symbolize Rui's bond to his parents, had snapped._

_'And that night, I severed it with my two hands. Even so, **Master Muzan** gave me words of encouragement.'_

_"It was all your parents' fault for refusing to accept you. Take pride in your own strength." Muzan used Rui's unstable emotions to drive and manipulate Rui into doing things for him._

_'I had no choice but to look at it that way. I couldn't bear the weight of what I'd done.' He held his own head and screamed._

_'Even knowing that I only had myself to blame...'_

* * *

Returning to the present, Rui's head fell and rolled to let him see Tanjiro and Nezuko. His own body tried to walk up to them like a zombie.

_'Every single day... I missed my parents so much that I could barely stand it. Even after creating a fake family, the feeling of emptiness wouldn't go away. Since I was one with the most power, there was no one who could protect me... who could shield me. The more powerful I became, the less I remembered about being a human. And I was losing sight of what it was that I wanted to do. Seeking a bond that I could never claim for myself.'_

Rui's body had finally reached the Kamado siblings then it fell down to do the ground due to it decaying into ash. His hand reached out to them, to have the bond he wanted from the siblings.

_'Even though it was simply out of my reach no matter how I strained to get my hands on it.'_

Quake raised his head up when he sensed something in Rui's body. Even if it is still decaying, Quake crawled his way towards it.

_'This small body... is emanating a sound full of grief and sadness... too overwhelming for him to bare... what if...'_

Quake stretched out his hand to place it on top of Rui's back. Tanjiro mirrored the same gesture and the two are sharing the same space to give Rui the comfort he didn't deserve.

_'So warm. Hands as gentle as sunlight. Now I remember as clear as day. What I wanted was to apologize. I'm sorry... I was... I was to blame for it all. I hope you can forgive me. But since I've killed scores of people, I'm going to Hell, aren't I? Father... Mother... I can't go to the same place as you, can I?'_

_"That's not true."_

Rui's eyes snapped open. Although, it revealed that he has more human like eyes than having his demonized ones. They're all filled with purity.

He felt a hand on his back. A hand so gentle he can almost relax on it.

_"We'll be going together even if it's to Hell."_

He couldn't believe it. Rui gasped then turned to look at his real father.

_"Rui..."_ He smiled warmly to his son.

_"Father..."_ He turned to his right. _"Mother..."_

The mother nodded at her son. _"Rui... No matter where you go, we'll be with you."_

It was too much. It was too much for Rui. It was too much for him to handle. His parents, his real parents, displayed a bond he had been looking for.

It was with his parents the whole time.

His eyes shook until tears were already leaking but he doesn't care. He's happy to hear that his parents will follow him forever in Hell. Then slowly, his human features had returned, making him revert back to him being human again.

_"Aaaaaaauuuuuggggghhhhh!! It was... It was all my fault!" Rui ran to them and they all have family hug._

_"I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...!"_

And with that, Rui and his family peacefully vanished into flames.

"..."Quake silently observed the kimono that was once belonged to the tragic child. He couldn't help shedding tears for this kid.

_'Rui... I hope you're finally be with your parents. Wherever you are, you're now free from Muzan's puppet strings.'_ He clenched his teeth and gripped his hand into a fist.

_'Muzan Kibutsuji... You tormented and manipulated innocent people in sick, twisted ways! You took Tanjiro's family away from him! I'll never forgive you for that! I swear Tanjiro will be the one to end your life in sheer peril!'_

He snapped out of his train of thoughts when a foot trampled onto Rui's kimono. He glanced to see Giyu stepping on it.

"Don't waste any sympathy on a demon that devoured humans. It doesn't matter if it looks like a child. It's still a hideous monster that's lived for decades." Giyu stated.

"To avenge the people who were killed, to make sure there are no more victims, of course, I'll bring my blade down on any demon's neck without any mercy! But as for those for whom being a demon meant despair, those who regretted their own actions... I will never trample over them! Because demons were once human, too! Just like me, they were human, too! Please step off him!"

Quake gasped at Tanjiro's impromptu speech. In his fair share of experience, there are demons who chose to become demons because of reasons he can't quite understand. But only for those that are doing for the right cause but in wrong ways possible, Quake wouldn't doubt that a demon are trying to survive to be human that they once were.

"Mr. Tomioka, please step off of Rui." Quake decided to step in. "What you said is true, about demons that devours humans and shouldn't be given pity on them. However, not every demons are evil! They're just like us, looking for a way to live even if they are forced to devour humans because they had no other choice! Demons aren't hideous monsters! They're hopeless, tragic creatures!"

He remembered the Morphed Demon, Kyogai, Susamaru, Eiko and lastly, Rui. They are demons who faced a tragedy even if they hid it through their masked exteriors.

Tanjiro smiled at Quake. He's happy to know that he shares the same feeling and opinion about demons. He even wondered if Tanjiro's kind nature had influenced BoBoiBoy to be like him or it's just his own sense of justice.

Or maybe both?

After all, Tanjiro and Urokodaki are the only people who had known BoBoiBoy for so long in this world. After knowing of his past, Tanjiro will always support BoBoiBoy with every fiber of his being, even if he is from another world, era, dimension.

Because they are brothers-in-arms.

"Huh?" Giyu suspected because he met the other BoBoiBoy from the forest but he never expected to meet another BoBoiBoy.

"You're..." Giyu even took a look at Nezuko, instantly recognizing them as the two siblings he met two years ago.

Butterflies were floating around Giyu. He immediately sensed someone about to attack Nezuko.

"I heard someone!" Blaze took a stance and stood beside Giyu.

Shinobu zoomed in on them and took out her blade. Giyu had deflected her attack with his blade to prevent her from hacking off Nezuko's head.

"Oh my..." Shinobu front flipped and landed on the ground with grace.

"Lady Shinobu! Don't slice her head off please!"

They heard a voice all too familiar for Tanjiro, Quake and Blaze. Ice jumped in between and pleaded for Shinobu.

"BoBoiBoy, dear, you are suppose to be on my side. Don't tell me that you are siding on those people with a demon with them?" Shinobu stated.

"I know that, Lady Shinobu! But still, you can't kill the demon! There's a reason for this."

Quake and Blaze didn't notice at first but once they felt the cold expanding around them, that's when they realized...

"Ice?!" They exclaimed in shock.

Ice looked behind and smirked, before noticing them in their Secondary Tier forms, his jaw dropped for a second before he brought his attention to the Water Hashira, multiplying his shock expression further.

"Mr. Tomioka?!" Ice said. Giyu is beyond confused as to what's going on with... three BoBoiBoys.

"Do my eyes deceive me because I am seeing not one but three BoBoiBoy?" Shinobu asked albeit with a smile. "But besides the point, why would you get in my way, Tomioka?"

"Who is she?" Blaze asked to the Water Hashira beside him. Giyu didn't reply as he blankly stared at the Insect Hashira.

"After telling me ghat we could never be friends with demons... How should I put this? That's exactly why... no one likes you, you know."

* * *

A Kakushi injected the antidote on the victims's arm and reversed the poison's effects. The victim resisted his pain after it is gone and laid rest on the ground with a peaceful look on his face.

"Whoaa! Man, this antidote of Lady Kocho's is effective!" The male Kakushi said in an impressed tone.

"That's right. And she prepared it after one look at this situation. She's truly amazing." The female Kakushi expressed her amazement and looked at Zenitsu wrapped with multiple bandages revealing only his eyes and his nose to breathe easier.

"That goes for him, too." She casted a look on Zenitsu.

"Oh, that guy?"

"Because he defeated that demon, it slowed the circulation of the poison just a bit." She said.

"Although, I'm wondering about something." The male Kakushi started.

"What is it?" She asked.

"That, over there." He pointed to some chunks of ice that were on the ground after they crushed it enough to free the trapped victims. "It's weird to see ice that formed out of nowhere."

"Oh yeah. Whoever made that ice to form must be strong." She wondered. "Do you perhaps think it could be one of us that did this?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. I highly doubt it couldn't have been the demon that created this. It didn't look like the blonde guy didn't do this either. So I'm thinking it's another powerful Demon Slayer that did this."

"A Hashira maybe?" She suggested. "As far as I know, only a Hashira can do something as dangerous as to conjure ice out of thin air. Not to mention, I'm getting a little bit cold from just near it."

"I have a feeling that it could be a Hashira but something tells me it's not." He said then placed a tag on the bandaged victim. "Anyways, this should do it! Looking good! Chances are they'll pull through."

"Still, I'd like to wrap things up quickly and leave this place as soon as possible, wouldn't you?" She said.

"Yeah, me too. I mean, this place really, really stinks!" Both Kakushis went to help their fellow Kakushis as they finished their first batch.

Back to their predicament at hand, the three BoBoiBoys, Tanjiro, and Giyu are now against Shinobu for attempting to persuade Giyu to move out of the way.

"The BoBoiBoy in blue, I never thought you would be against me after I helped heal your friend. Is this the thanks I received after you finally found your friends? I feel so hurt and betrayed." Shinobu tried to deceive Ice. Little did she know is that he already have it figured it.

"I'm really sorry, Lady Shinobu. I should've told you this a while ago. But, I can't risk putting Tanjiro and Nezuko's lives in further danger because I know you'll only go after them than us." Ice said and firmly grasped his sword.

"Is that so?" Shinobu smiled. "I guess I'll have to use force to go my way. If you don't want that to happen, then I suggest to politely move out of the way as well as you, Tomioka."

Giyu stood his ground and said. "I'm not... I'm not disliked by people."

Everyone were shocked to what he said. The three BoBoiBoys and Tanjiro are confused as all hell right now.

"Aww. Well, I'm sorry. You haven't even realized that people don't like you, then? That was uncalled for. Please forgive me."

"EEEHHH?!" Tanjiro, Quake, Blaze, and Ice almost face planted on the ground after hearing Shinobu saying that Giyu is disliked by people. More shocks were sent to them and Giyu as well.

'I feel like we've been sandwiched in their relationship right now...' Quake thought with a sweatdrop.

"Little boy with red hair!" Shinobu called out Tanjiro.

"Yes!" Tanjiro replied.

"What you're protecting there is a demon. I don't want you to get hurt, so please move away." Shinobu stated.

"Y-You're mistaken! I mean, you're not mistaken, but... she's my kid sister! She's my kid sister, so... You see..." Tanjiro struggled on his words and jumbles to find the correct way to explain it all to her.

"He means that his sister is a demon and that she never devoured anyone! I know it sounds absurd but you have go believe us!" Quake defended for Tanjiro, to which he highly appreciated.

"Is that right? Poor thing. In that case, I shall use a gentle toxin to kill her, so she won't have to suffer, all right?" Shinobu said in a cold tone even smiling through it. She brought up her blade and readied her toxin designed to kill demons.

Ice positioned himself so that it looks like he's guarding behind Giyu and the others. Blaze made sure to have Giyu's back in case Shinobu finds her way around them. Quake sluggishly stood and kneed beside Tanjiro as a way to protect them from Shinobu since his sword is now broken beyond repair.

"Can you move?" He said to Tanjiro without looking back.

"Mr. Tomioka?" Quake said.

"Make yourself move even if you can't move. Take your sister and run." Giyu adviced him.

"Tomioka..." Tanjiro muttered. "Sorry for the trouble! Thank you very much!"

"Isn't that against the Corps rules?" Shinobu reminded him.

"BoBoi—the three of you, go. I'll take care of her from here." Giyu said.

"What? But... Mr. Tomioka!" Blaze tried to argue.

"My problem is between me and her alone. You all go after him while I take care of things from here."

Ice intervened. "But I don't know if we should—"

Giyu glared at him. "Don't make me repeat myself. Just go!"

Ice and Blaze fell silent, not knowing what to do about it.

"Let's do what he says from now and go after Tanjiro. Mr. Tomioka, thank you very much! I promise I'll explain everything to you."

Giyu slightly nodded, getting the memo already. Blaze and Ice reluctantly left Giyu and ran off with Quake to help Tanjiro.

Speaking of Quake, heaving breathes were accompanied as well as from Blaze and Ice. They had no idea what came over them as they grew every second they took a step forward.

"What's going... on?" Ice finds himself gasping for air.

"Why do... I feel so... tired...?" Blaze said in the same state as Ice.

Quake stopped for a moment and thought for minute to know what's happening to them. "I think... we've been split for too long and... that explains why our bodies are straining..."

"I guess that makes sense... We split many times... For one month..." Ice said.

"We need to merge back, now." Blaze and Ice nodded. Their bodies lit up in yellow and turned into lights. The lights traveled back to Quake until he is now BoBoiBoy once again.

"Aauugghh...!!" BoBoiBoy's body strained way too much from being split for far too long. It had been like a full night since they've started to do the Elemental Split.

"I went... overboard with... having to split for too long." He grasped on his chest and coughed for a few minutes.

"But that's not important right now! I need to... find Tanjiro and Nezuko!" BoBoiBoy said to himself then took off in a sprint. He ran slower than he once thought.

_'I can't see straight! My body feels really heavy! My whole body is writhing in pain, it hurts!'_ BoBoiBoy used his Breathing Technique to bare the pain to its minimum. He tried his absolute best to keep the pain from circulating in his body for longer.

_'If they found out that Tanjiro and I are travelling with a demon, does it mean that we have to quit the Demon Slayer Corps?'_ BoBoiBoy thought on a worst case scenario if that were to happen. They'll have targets behind their backs every now and then if that time were to come.

_'Keep it together, BoBoiBoy! Your main priority first is to find Tanjiro and Nezuko! Make sure they're not hurt in any way, shape or form!'_

His hearing senses failed as someone is following and chasing after him.

* * *

Giyu and Shinobu battled as they clashed their swords on each other after the rest of the boys ran away from their sights. Giyu held her back, giving them more time to escape from Shinobu.

"I see you're dead serious, Tomioka. Who would've thought a Hashira would ever defend a demon?" Shinobu's smile slightly faltered as her tone contained a very serious one. Giyu didn't reply at her question and just stared at her.

"Whether you're dead serious or not, I'm not going to join you in stalling for time. So, good day to you." Shinobu sheathes her sword then jumped in blinding speed above Giyu. His eyes widen when he sees Shinobu jumping on the branches in pursuit of Tanjiro. Giyu followed after her.

Shinobu acrobatically jumps from tree to tree and spotted Giyu on the ground chasing after her. "Is that your attempt at catching up with me?"

Giyu continued to chase her, not bothering to answer her question. Shinobu smiles and jumps really high to avoid Giyu.

"I don't mind you trying to stop me, but don't forget about those other ones!"

Giyu knew perfectly well on what she refers to. He worry that Tanjiro will end up getting captured by not only one but **two** of Shinobu's fellow Demon Slayers.

With one big leap, he closed in on Shinobu.

_'C'mon Tanjiro! Where in the world are you?!'_ BoBoiBoy slowed down his running and his exhaustion finally caught up to him.

_'Dammit... Not now! Not when I need to find them first!'_

His ears perked up when he heard the bushes rustle. Panic quickly washes him as he realized that his sword is totally broken.

_'I thought merging back would mean that my sword would be replaced with either Blaze's or Ice's?! Don't tell me that only the original retained it?'_

The rustling became until it revealed the person he knew.

"BoBoiBoy...?" A female voice sounded.

It took him a while register who it was and he breathed out sigh.

"It was you, Eiko. What are you doing here?" He asked while he went closer to her.

"Is it over? Is Rui..." She asked with little hints of fear from mentioning the boy that continuously tortured her non-stop.

"You have nothing to worry about anymore." He pats her on the head. "Rui is now dealt with. And he found peace with his real family again." He muttered the last part.

Essentially, she knew what he's saying and buried her head on his chest and let out a sob. "I-I-It's finally o-over... Y-You freed m-me." She hugged him tightly.

BoBoiBoy wouldn't help it and just warmly smiled at the former demoness. He couldn't believe that after one night, he would befriend a demon that is almost too innocent to be proved.

He wished that every demons were like her.

His face then got serious. "Eiko, listen to me." He grabbed her by both shoulders.

"W-What is it?" She sniffed before giving her full attention to the boy in yellow.

"I need you to run as far away from here as possible. It's not safe here anymore." BoBoiBoy recommended.

"W-What? But where will I go from here...?" She sounded terrified from the thought of leaving the forest that she was once imprisoned due to Rui's presence.

BoBoiBoy thought of suggesting to bring her in to Tamayo since she accepts demons with a change of heart. He remembered what place they were going to go thanks to him eavesdropping on them. It felt wrong but at least now he knows where he can find them and bring her to them.

'But what would Yushiro think of bringing an unknown demon with them? Can he easily accept her for a reason?'

He looked down to her. Her face showed innocence. It reminded him of Pipi Zola by that face alone. Memories of him, Yaya, and **Pipi Zola** hanging out together brings a tug on his heartstrings as to how much he misses them both. He leaked small tears in his eyes.

"BoBoiBoy?" She squeaked when she felt a tight hug circled around her. She found out that BoBoiBoy is silently crying.

"I'm sorry. It's just that... I'm a big mess right now. Too much had happened this night... and I just wanted it to be over..." He then let go and wiped away his tears.

"Listen to me now, I want you to go to this location." He provided her a way to get in contact with Tamayo and Yushiro. "Tell them that BoBoiBoy sent you and that way, they'll immediately trust you and you'll be safer with them."

Eiko took the words and printed them in her head. "I will. Thank you so much, BoBoiBoy."

She started to cry. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I've been waiting for so long to be free. But now, now I'll be safe. Thanks to you..."

BoBoiBoy grinned. "I'm glad to hear it but you gotta go now. I promise I'll come and find you soon."

She wiped her tears but they still kept falling down her eyes. "I-I will..."

They share one last hug.

"Be careful on your way. Don't let the sunlight hit you. Avoid the Demon Slayers. Seek shelter and try not to devour any humans. Your original form makes you look more human so don't change into your other form unless you have to. Understand?"

She nodded.

"Understood."

And with that, she ran off before she looked back and waved him good-bye. He copied the gesture and returned it to her. She disappeared from his line of sight.

"I hope you're on your way to them safe and sound." BoBoiBoy then frowned. "I still need to find Tanjiro and Nezuko. Off to the forest I go!"

BoBoiBoy began to jog in search for them when his hearing senses picked up an all too familiar sound. He can't pinpoint what it means but it's something that hits him close to home.

_'What's this? Why am I hearing this now...?'_ His breath left him.

_'It can't be... No... There's no way... Don't tell me it's...'_

"RUN, NEZUKO!" Tanjiro's voice snapped out of his concentration on what he heard and focused on him instead. "RUN! MAKE A RUN FOR IT! DON'T GET CAUGHT NO MATTER WHAT! HURRY—"

BoBoiBoy flinched when the sound of a blunt blow knocked the wind out of Tanjiro and smashed his jawbone, making a cracking sound.

_'They're nearby! But that begs the question of who is the one that knocked Tanjiro out?'_ BoBoiBoy eventually found Tanjiro, sprawled on the ground with his eyes whited out.

"He's unconscious..." He checked him then redirected his attention at the girl with a white cape.

_'I recognized her. She's that girl from Final Selection. So she's a Demon Slayer too?'_

The girl, **Kanao Tsuyuri,** is now in hot pursuit of Nezuko on a mission to decapitate her head off. BoBoiBoy gave chase to the girl and trying to reach Nezuko.

Her blade was so close in reaching Nezuko's neck."

"NOOO!" He reached out as he knew he couldn't get there. Fortunately, Nezuko shrunk down like a toddler, successfully avoiding the slash.

_'She shrunk and turned into a child.'_ Kanao thought in revelation to Nezuko's ability.

Nezuko used her tiny legs to run and hop on some big roots and branches that were too big for her size and ran away from Kanao.

Kanao ran after her and swings her blade at Nezuko many times. _'All she's doing is running away. Not a single attack. But why?'_

Nezuko ran with her arms spread out. BoBoiBoy closed in on them as sneakily as possible by jumping on the branches to gain some view on them.

_'No need to ponder. My only job is to slay this demon as I was told.'_ Kanao thought.

She was about to deliver her slash on Nezuko when she tripped on a big branch. Two hands stopped her swing and that caused to draw out blood from those hands.

"I'm sorry but, I can't let you kill her!" BoBoiBoy gathered enough strength to throw her away, gaining distance between BoBoiBoy, Nezuko and Kanao. His hands were bleeding but it only mattered little to him.

_'Who is this boy?'_ Kanao looked long and hard at BoBoiBoy. _'Wait... he's the boy from Final Selection. So he's a Demon Slayer too, huh?'_

"Don't come any closer!" BoBoiBoy tried to be as intimidating as possible. A simple glare doesn't add into the intimidation factor.

"..." Kanao didn't speak. She can only observe BoBoiBoy from a distance.

_'That's odd... how come she's not attacking me?'_

He failed to realize that it was a trap as another boot was sent to the back of his head. He was sent flying to a tree and hit his head on impact.

Before he passed out completely, he could make out another Demon Slayer wearing a blurry-coloured haori with patterns he didn't recognize due to his vision fading.

And as he knew it, he was knocked out completely.

* * *

"Tomioka? Are you listening, Tomioka?" Shinobu started while being locked in a grip by Giyu in order to prevent her escape.

"Since the purpose of my attack was to slay a demon, and therefore justified, I don't believe it could be construed as a violation. But what you're doing is against the Corps rules. You're preventing me from slaying a demon. Just what are your intentions here?"

Giyu rolled his eyes to the top of his head. He had enough with this woman for only one night.

"Don't you have anything to say?" She said a bit louder and her vein popped up on her forehead, evidently pissed but still retained her sweet smile.

"This is your final warning. Give me a reason at least."

Giyu paused for a while until he gives his answer. "If I'm remembering this right, it was two years ago."

"Please don't start some long, rambling story from that far back in time. Are you just being spiteful? Are you perhaps still angry that I pointed out how people don't like you?"

Shinobu's camouflaged threat had momentarily stunned Giyu as he looked at her comically with plain white eyes.

While he's distracted, Shinobu's left heel had pull out a hidden blade. Giyu gasped slightly at the assassination attempt but—

"Message! Message! Cawww!" A crow flies through the air, making Shinobu stop her attempts to hurt Giyu.

"I have a message from headquarters! Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, and Nezuko are to be taken into custody and brought back to headquarters!"

Giyu and Shinobu were surprised for another order to be delivered.

"Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy and the demon, Nezuko, are to be taken into custody and brought back to headquarters!"

"Tanjiro, dressed in a checkered haori, with a scar on his forehead! Nezuko, a demon girl with a bamboo muzzle! BoBoiBoy, dressed in a yellow haori with black linings in a zig-zag pattern on the bottom, with a scar that ran across his right eye! Bring them back! Bring them back!" Another crow shouted.

Kanao moved her head near Nezuko. "Are you Nezuko?"

The hooded Demon Slayer gasped when the crow mentioned BoBoiBoy's name. Their eyes immediately went over to the unconscious elementalist.

"BoBoiBoy..." They said in a somber tone.

The Hashiras sheathe their swords, no longer threatening themselves further as they have a new objective bestowed on them by the crows. Speaking of the crows, they repeated what they had said on a loop, that way, anyone that didn't hear it the first time will definitely know.

"He's the boy with the scar on his right eye. Yellow haori with black linings. Bring him in." A female Kakushi carried him onto her back.

"He's a bit heavy." She complained.

"I'll get the kid with the scar on his forehead. It looks like his jawbone is broken, isn't it?" The male Kakushi said after picking him up and slung him on his shoulder. He even picked up the box and strapped it on his back.

"I feel bad about tying him up, but orders are orders."

Two Kakushis had accidentally stumbled upon Inosuke tied up in some rope.

"Wh-Who the hell is this?"

"I don't know."

"A demon? Couldn't be, right?"

"Is it a human?"

One is holding a stick and poked Inosuke's mask.

"He's wearing our uniform trousers."

He poked the stick upwards to raise Inosuke's mask.

"Oh hey, this is a mask! He's a human!"

"All right, let's bring him in."

They proceeded to untie him.

"This guy's really banged up!"

"Why's he strung up like this?"

The Kakushi slung Inosuke on his shoulder. All the while, Inosuke was barely conscious and didn't have the energy to move after being tied up into a tree.

_'There was nothing I could do... On my own, I couldn't even bring down even a single demon! You know what? Maybe I'm not that strong...'_ Inosuke thought, depressed.

Chuntaro/Ukogi bounced on top of Zenitsu after he regained consciousness. The first thing he felt are the bandages restraining his every movement. Of course, he is a mummified victim of the Older Brother Spider Demon that almost turned him into a spider.

"They wrapped us up like mummies." Zenitsu said in a muffled voice.

_'Who are these people? They seem to be cleaning up this place really efficiently. And that girl there...'_

He looked to see Kanao giving out orders to her fellow Kakushis.

_'Isn't she the girl from Final Selection? She has the same kind of hair ornament as the lady who wrapped us up.'_

"Shouldn't we bring them to the Butterfly Mansion, as well?" One male Kakushi asked.

"Yes, bring all of the wounded to our place. I'll be hunting down the demons in the area so you can work without any worries."

She gestured to her fellow teammate with their face shadowed.

"Will you be accompanying me on the hunt for demons?" Kanao asked.

The teammate nodded. "Yes. We need to clear this forest from the demons. You can count on me, Kanao." They smiled at her and Kanao returned it.

_'Who is that person?'_ Zenitsu didn't get a clear look of the hooded person's face as they turned away from his vision. _'Is that the girl's partner? I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl from their tone of voice. But I guess that doesn't matter.'_

_'Come to think of it, I've heard about them. The clean-up crew, the Kakushis. The unit that cleans up after the Demon Slayer Corps battles demons. They say that most of its members are people who have no swordsmanship skills.'_

As he finished with his thoughts, the sun has started to make it's appearance and bring new hope to the people below. It's early rays are shining down on the forest, making it look too beautiful for the eyes of travelers. To Zenitsu, it's the start of another day.

"Chu!" Chuntaro/Ukogi chirped.

"It's daybreak." Zenitsu had mumbled underneath the bandages.

The Hashiras are on their way back to the headquarters. They don't need to look for the required people as the Kakushis had it all taken care of. Shinobu stopped to look at the rising sun in the horizon.

Kanao and her fellow teammate watched as the sun starts to make way into the forest.

The Kakushis that are carrying both Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy are walking their way to headquarters. The orders are still fresh in their minds. They still haven't a clue of what's going on with bringing these boys and the demon in, but something tells them that it's more complicated than what they seem.

The sun partially enveloped the mountain with its orange rays. And finally, the terrors of Mt. Natagumo had officially came to an end.

Eiko hid inside of an abandoned temple not too far from the mountain and looked at the sun. The way when her fingers felt the warmth of the sun from BoBoiBoy Fire, she wanted to feel it again because of how much the warmth can make her feel so alive.

But she brushed her thought of setting her hand on the sun. Only the warmth of love can make her feel alive, and she embraced it with BoBoiBoy giving her what she wanted.

Now she needs to get to the place where hopefully the people he mentioned would take care of her.

She smiled at the new day given to her. Things aren't looking to grim and awful for her. Instead, she's filled with hope.

Hope for another chance at life.

And she had BoBoiBoy to thank for.

"Thank you... BoBoiBoy." She muttered before falling into a deep slumber to pass the day.

* * *

A garden, the aesthetically organized rocks, the wisteria flowers, and ordinary flowers with butterflies flying around them. Nothing says peaceful except these in particular.

BoBoiBoy, tied up in a rope while laying on his side, slept.

"Wake up."

He didn't wake up.

"Hey, I said wake up!"

He didn't wake up.

"Wake... Hey! Hey you! Both of you!"

They didn't wake up.

"Come on, you! Come on!"

They didn't wake up.

"ARE YOU TWO GONNA SLEEP ALL DAY?! WAKE THE HELL UP, WILL YA?!"

That's what gotten them to wake up. They snapped their eyes open, opened to reveal multiple people standing before them.

"You're both in the presence of the Hashiras!"

* * *

**The moment we've all been waiting for! The Hashiras are now here!**

**Well maybe not quite, but in the next chapter, they will be xD.**

**As for the secret character, they're going to be introducing themselves in the next chapter. If you somehow both caught on with who it is, then congrats, you just spoiled yourself XD.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed and thanks for reading!**

**~ s a y o n a r a**


	25. Master of the Mansion

When they finally wake up, they were greeted with unknown people that wore unique Demon Slayer uniforms that goes with their style and attitude.

"Bummer, I heard these were Demon Slayers with a demon in tow, so I was looking forward to seeing someone flamboyant, but these are drab-looking dudes, huh?" A male Hashira with multiple earrings and white hair said.

"And now, we'll put these boys on trial! I see!" Another Hashira with hair that matched like a flame exclaimed.

_'To think that they've been protecting the sister who's now a demon... Now that's beautiful sibling love! How brave!'_ A female Hashira with mixtures of pink and lime green thick braided hair thought as she looked at the boys.

"Nghh..." BoBoiBoy is very uncomfortable having to lay down on his sides with small rocks poking at his sides. "Wh-Who are these peop—"

The male Kakushi brought his head down. "Don't open your mouth just yet, you moron! Just who do you think is standing before you?"

"I don't know..." He told him.

The other sighed heavily. "You're in the presence of the **Hashiras!**"

"Hashiras?" The boys repeated, obviously confused.

_'What is a Hashira? What's he talking about? These people... They all look like they're the big deal around here.'_

BoBoiBoy turns his head around as he realized that they are both in someplace they don't recognize.

_'More importantly, where are we?'_

As if she heard his thoughts, Shinobu answered. "This is the Demon Slayers' headquarters. And the two of you are about to be put on trial... Tanjiro Kamado...

Her eyes wavered to the boy she had encountered at Mt. Natagumo. "...and BoBoiBoy."

BoBoiBoy internally panicked and sweats profusely. He can sense the tone from her voice that she is still mad at him even if she is hiding it by her smile on her face.

_'Does she still think I kinda went against her last time? I guess she is still mad at me for that.'_

Thankfully, Shinobu brought her attention to Tanjiro as she will deal with BoBoiBoy later. "Before we start the trial, why don't you explain the crime you've comm—"

"There's no need for a trial!"

**FLAME HASHIRA**

**KYOJURO RENGOKU**

"Protecting a demon is a clear violation of the code!" Kyojuro said with a firm look on his face. "We're within our rights to deal with them on our own! We're going to behead them along with the demon!"

**SOUND HASHIRA**

**TENGEN UZUI**

"In that case, I'll be glad to decapitate them flamboyantly." Tengen frowned down on the boys. "I'll show you two the most flamboyant bloodspray you will ever see. I'm talking about max flamboyance."

**LOVE HASHIRA**

**MITSURI KANROJI**

_'What? You'd kill these cute and adorable boys?'_ Mitsuri thought to herself with a blush on her face. _'That pains my heart! It fills me with anguish!'_

**STONE HASHIRA**

**GYOMEI HIMEJIMA**

"Ah, what a pitiful sight these boys are." Gyomei said with tears falling down his eyes while clasping his eyes in a praying manner. "These poor souls... I pity them for having been born at all."

**MIST HASHIRA**

**MUICHIRO TOKITO**

_'Um... what was the shape of that cloud again?'_ Muichiro ignores what's happening around him and focused his eyes at the sky. _'What was it called again?'_

BoBoiBoy and Tanjiro stared at these people before them. They haven't known a single thing about a Hashira before in their lives as Demon Slayers. If there was surely a clue to who they are, they would've looked into it.

_'I wonder what trial are we going to be held on?'_ BoBoiBoy thought on the pressing manner being placed for them. _'But seriously, why do we need to be put on trial? Can we just settle this in a civilized manner? But I think I can understand. Maybe they're being cautious of us because we are accompanying Nezuko.'_

Tanjiro didn't mind the people before them and instead searches for Nezuko around them. Unfortunately, she is nowhere in sight.

"Hey you..." The male Kakushi caught Tanjiro not paying attention to the Hashiras. "The Hashiras are speaking. What are you looking at? These are nine highest-ranking swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps."

"Hashiras..." Tanjiro said as he looked at them again.

_'Wait... he said nine. Where are the other three?'_ BoBoiBoy thought as he found only six Hashiras in the area.

"Let's put them out of their misery." Gyomei suggested.

"Yeah! Let's do it, flamboyantly." Tengen agreed.

Tanjiro drowned their conversation out and searched for Nezuko again.

"Hey!" The male Kakushi said.

"Nezuko... Nezuko, where are you?! Nezuko! Zenitsu! Inosuke! Murata!" Tanjiro called out for their names.

"Forget that. What will we do with Tomioka?" A new voice gained their attention and they look to where the source is. A male Demon Slayer is sitting on the tree nonchalantly with a serpent with him.

"Seeing him there without any restraints is giving me a headache. Based on what Kocho told us, Tomioka's just as guilty of breaking the Corps rules."

**SERPENT HASHIRA**

**IGURO OBANAI**

"How will we deal with him? How should we make him take responsibility? What kind of lesson should we teach him?" Iguro then points at Tomioka. "Don't you have anything to say, Tomioka?"

"Mr. Tomioka...?" BoBoiBoy looked for Giyu. He and Tanjiro found him distancing himself from the other Hashiras. Giyu still retained his dull face.

_'I can't believe this... because of us, now even Mr. Tomioka is involved in the problem.'_ BoBoiBoy thought with dread.

_'Iguro, you're as serpent-like as ever! Such a nag! I love how pesky you are!'_ Mitsuri complimented Iguro in her thoughts. She then looked over to Giyu spacing himself and away from the rest of Hashiras.

_'Tomioka! All by himself at a distance! How cute!'_

**WATER HASHIRA**

**GIYU TOMIOKA**

"Oh, where's the harm? He did come along without resisting." Shinobu defended him.

"Let's come up with a penalty later."

**INSECT HASHIRA**

**SHINOBU KOCHO**

"What I'm more interested in is hearing these boys' story. The reason they're going on missions with a demon in tow despite being Demon Slayers..." Shinobu has her gaze on Tanjiro.

"I'd like to hear the explanation from Kamado himself and the other boy's side of the story. Needless to say, what they've done is against the Demon Slayer Corps rules."

They both held their breathes after hearing it from Shinobu.

"You're both aware of that, aren't you?"

Nervousness creeps their way to their faces.

"Tanjiro Kamado... Why are you traveling with a demon when you're a Demon Slayer?"

Tengen's hands are on the grips of his blades on his back. "No need to ask."

"You can take your time. Just tell us why. If you take too long, don't worry. I'll speak with BoBoiBoy since he's also involved with violating the Corps rules as well."

The mentioned boy gulps nervously. He was never put into this type of position before. The anxious feeling swirls deep inside of him as he finds himself unable to be calm.

_'I don't get it... Why am I feeling really nervous about all of this happening right now? My hands won't stop trembling!'_ He can feel the tension rising up.

Tanjiro saves him the trouble by opening his mouth. "She's my... She's my younger—" He tried to speak up but his throat ran dry and finds himself in a coughing fit, also mostly from the pain he endured back in Mt. Natagumo.

"Tanji—" BoBoiBoy then goes into the same state as Tanjiro as his pain resurfaced. Added to the strains from using Elemental Split for too long mixes the pain factor into three-fold.

Shinobu pops open two gourds that contained medicated water and handed them one by one.

"I do believe you both need some water." Shinobu handed them the gourds. Both of them used their mouths to drink from it.

"Kamado, you've injured your jaw so please drink slowly. These contain painkillers, so it will make you two feel better."

After finishing it all in one chug, Tanjiro gasps for air after downing it all and BoBoiBoy muttered a silent thank you to the Insect Hashira.

"It's not as if your wounds are healed, so you both mustn't push yourselves. Now then, Tanjiro Kamado..." She then waited for his explanation in regards to Nezuko.

"That demon is my younger sister! While I was away, my family was attacked by a demon, and when I got home, they were all dead! My sister got turned into a demon, but she's never devoured anyone! She never has... and never will! She'll never hurt humans no matter what!"

Iguro didn't buy his story and spinning his pointing finger at them. "Spare us your absurd ravings. If she's family, no wonder you're defending her. I can't trust a single word you're saying. I, for one, don't believe you."

"Aahhh. She's been possessed by a demon. Let us kill these children immediately so that she can be liberated." Gyomei said, still clasping his hands.

"Please hold your breaths. We have yet to hear BoBoiBoy's side since he is with Kamado the entire time." Shinobu faced the white-streaked haired boy.

"Please tell us. Is Kamado claiming what he said true?"

BoBoiBoy didn't think of any answer as he already knew everything that happened with Tanjiro is entirely true. He wanted to be direct, but that would cause lots of conflicting arguments and they would all disbelieve him. He came up with a simple yet reasonable one.

"Yes. The fact that Nezuko turned into a demon for two years means that she had never devour at least one human in her whole life. She may be a demon, but she's still human inside. What Tanjiro said is right. We witness not one single murder she had committed. She even fought along side us even when there are humans around. That's my side of the story." BoBoiBoy responded in a calm tone. Despite being anxious on the inside, he needed to pull up a strong front for Tanjiro's predicament.

After all, they knew the consequences on what will happen if the rest of the Demon Slayers find out they have a demon in tow and brought these on themselves.

"Either you masked your lies very well or it's just that you're telling an almost believable story to make us want to believe this demon isn't worth killing. I'm not falling for that." Iguro said in a vile tone.

"I want to believe you." Mitsuri asked a bit shyly. "But I don't know if I should. It's just that... when you say it like that, it almost sounds like you are proving that she is innocent when you think she isn't because she's a demon."

BoBoiBoy had his whole mouth agape. _'What's wrong with these people? Can they tell the difference between good and bad demons? Don't tell me that our words have fell on deaf ears?'_

"Listen to us please! We became Demon Slayers so that Nezuko could be cured! It's true what BoBoiBoy said that it had been two years since Nezuko became a demon! And in all that time, she hasn't devoured one human!" Tanjiro desperately told them.

"Your story's spinning in the most drab way possible, idiot. The fact that she hasn't eaten anyone, that she won't from now on. Don't just give us lip service. Prove it to us with max flamboyance."

Tengen glanced at BoBoiBoy.

"Even with this kid's side of the story isn't flamboyant at all. I highly doubt that your demon can fight alongside with humans while holding back their hunger, wouldn't you think so?" He said, unconvinced.

Muichiro stared blankly at the sky and watched as an eagle is soaring through the sky.

"What was that bird again? Um..."

"Excuse me?" Mitsuri stepped in again. "I do have my doubts, you know. I just can't imagine the Master being in the dark about this situation."

Kyojuro and Tengen both looked at her.

She continued. "Do you really think it's okay to deal with them without his permission?"

Those words caught BoBoiBoy's ears. _'Wait, they're doing the trial without the one in charge? Why?'_

"Shouldn't we at least wait until he arrives?" Mitsuri asked.

"My sister..." Tanjiro gained their attention. "My sister will fight with us by our side! She can fight as a Demon Slayer to protect humans! So please..."

'Someone's coming.' BoBoiBoy turned his head to his left to see another person holding a box that contained Nezuko inside.

"Well, well, I see you have some fun brewing here." A man with multiple scars across his whole face, chest, and arms said.

"Are those the moron Slayers who have a demon with them?"

"What is he doing to Nezuko...?" Both Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy are fearing for the worst.

"What the hell are you trying to pull here?"

**WIND HASHIRA**

**SANEMI SHINAZUGAWA**

_'Shinazugawa! You've gain even more scars! How gorgeous you look!'_ Mitsuri complimented with hearts floating around her.

A female Kakushi appeared appeared behind Sanemi. "This won't do, Master Shinazugawa! Please, would you mind putting down that box?"

Shinobu, knowing what Sanemi is going to do, stands up.

_'Shinobu looks pretty angry! Now, that's unusual!'_ Mitsuri said, little did she know. _'She's so cool!'_

"Shinazugawa, please don't act out of line." Shinobu said and looked at Sanemi. Her smile isn't visible anymore.

"What did you say about that demon, kid?" Sanemi attempts to taunt Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy. "That she can fight as a Demon Slayer to protect humans?"

He motioned his free hand to his blade and ready to unsheathe it.

"You know what we call that?"

"No... is he gonna...?" BoBoiBoy narrows his eyes at the Wind Hashira.

"A TOTAL DELUSION, YOU MORONS!"

He drew out his blade.

Then stabbed Nezuko inside the box.

"WHY YOU!" BoBoiBoy stood, alongside Tanjiro who also looked enraged as him.

"ANYONE WHO HURTS MY SISTER... HASHIRA OR NOT, I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH IT!" Tanjiro yelled.

Sanemi only chuckled, digging his blade deeper into the box. He pulled out his sword from the box and wiped away the blood from the blade.

"YOU BASTARD!" BoBoiBoy initiated and ran towards the Wind Hashira. At the moment, his eyes turned fiery-orange and his body heated up, transforming him into his Fire form.

Kyojuro somehow felt something coming from BoBoiBoy when he changed that emanated a vibe familiar to him. He kept his eyes closer to the elementalist.

"Stop it! The Master will be arriving soon!" Giyu tried to stop a brawl from happening. Sanemi heard it yet still had his attention towards the boys.

"Ahhh... Bring it on then, brats!" Sanemi braced for the incoming angry Slayer. Fire evaded the horizontal slash by jumping up and gave Sanemi a swift axe kick to the head.

"Bastard!" Sanemi kicked Fire away. And on cue, he's unaware that Tanjiro also ran in front, jumped, and used his blunt head to headbutt Sanemi, sending him to the ground with a bloodied nose.

"Pfft!" Mitsuri almost snorted from seeing Sanemi being pummeled by two Demon Slayers. She covered her face embarrassingly. "Pardon me."

"***huff*huff***" Fire panted for air not before he reverts back to BoBoiBoy. He followed Tanjiro as he stood in front of the box in a protective way.

"Damn you...!" Sanemi blurted out from having his head banged up from Fire's axe kick and Tanjiro's headbutt.

_'Even though Tomioka ran interference, they still landed a blow on Shinazugawa.'_ Iguro thought with interest as he looks at both of them.

"If you can't even tell the difference between good demons and bad, YOU SHOULD JUST QUIT BEING A HASHIRA!" Tanjiro shouted and bravely stood his ground.

"You little..." Sanemi grunts and picks up his sword. "I'll destroy you!"

"You'll have to get past me if you want them." BoBoiBoy pushed past Tanjiro gently to the side and glared at the intimidating Wind Hashira.

"It's alright. I'll destroy you then the other brat and the demon next!" Sanemi said with a kind of twisted smile and that insane-like look on his eyes.

BoBoiBoy stood on his ground, not backing down from the look Sanemi gave him. Shinobu expressed concern for the elementalist. Despite of her being unwarranted, she wanted to help them with their situation. But given as they are on trial, she'll be placed in their position like Giyu as well.

"The Master..." Two twins with identifiable white hair interrupted their little session. "...has arrived."

This brought their attention towards the approaching man at the side entrance of the mansion.

"So good of you to come." Oyakata appeared and said.

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy gasped, seeing the **Master of the Demon Slayer Corps** for the first time.

"My beloved children..."

Oyakata lent his twin daughters his hand and had his other hand placed on his other daughter for support and they led him to the outside. They stopped as he is now in the center of the spot of where the twins placed him.

Oyakata sets his eyes at the sky, listening to the chirping of the birds and determining the sun's rays.

"Good morning, everyone. The weather is amazingly good today. I wonder if the sky is blue. It pleases me that we've made it to our semiannual Hashira Meeting with no personnel changes."

The white-streaked haired boy stared at the man before him.

_'What's wrong with the top part of his head? Is he sick? So, he is the Master I've been hearing about?'_

Suddenly, his and Tanjiro's heads were being planted to the ground.

_'What the hell?! What was that for?!'_

He tried to struggle but when he looked at the rest of the Hashiras, they all knelt down in respect at the sight of the Master before them.

"I am pleased to see you in good health, as well, Master. I fervently pray for your continued good fortune." Sanemi, surprising both of the boys he's putting his hands down on them, said in a formal tone.

"Thank you, Sanemi." Oyakata appreciated.

_'I wanted to say that! Offer my greetings to the Master!'_ Mitsuri thought with quivered lips.

"If I may, Master... Before we start the Hashira Meeting, would you mind enlightening us about these swordsmen, Tanjiro Kamado and BoBoiBoy, accompanied by a demon?" Sanemi asked still in the same tone.

_'This guy! He was all brawns with us before! Now he is speaking like a different person with the Master presented here!'_ BoBoiBoy thought in shock.

"Right. I apologize for startling you all. About Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy, and Nezuko... I've sanctioned their situation. And I'd also like you all to accept it." Oyakata declared, earning a questioning look from BoBoiBoy.

There's one who is against it. And that one is Gyomei. "Ahh. Even if it's what you desire, Master, I cannot agree to it.

Then Tengen. "I'm flamboyantly opposed, as well! A Demon Slayer traveling with a demon is unacceptable!"

Except Mitsuri. " I shall do whatever it is you wish, Master!"

Muichiro isn't affected with the news. "I'm fine either way... since I'm going to forget anyway."

Shinobu and Giyu chose to stay silent as they well know what the result is in the end when the trial is finished. Shinobu still has more questions regarding BoBoiBoy but decided to just talk about it some time. Giyu, on the other hand, abstains.

"I won't trust them. I won't trust them." Iguro said with full distrust towards the two Demon Slayers. "In the first place, I loathe demons."

"Although I respect you with all my heart, that's an incomprehensible notion, Master!" Kyojuro exclaimed. "I oppose it with everything I've got!"

Sanemi gave his opinion. "The Demon Slayer Corps' mission is to annihilate demons. I request that you penalize Kamado, BoBoiBoy, and Tomioka!"

With everyone except Giyu, Mitsuri, and Shinobu showing their disdain to the Master's decision of acknowledging Nezuko's demonized existence, Oyakata brings out his trump card.

"The letter." Oyakata said to his daughter.

"Yes, Master." She pulled out letter hidden in her kimono. "This is a letter received from a former Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki. I shall read you an abridged version."

_'Mr. Urokodaki?'_ BoBoiBoy held a surprise face when he heard Urokodaki's name.

She then begin to read the letter's contents.

_"Please allow Tanjiro to be accompanied by his sister, a demon, and his traveling companion, BoBoiBoy, to be included. Because of her resilient mental health, Nezuko has not lost her human emotions. Even in a starved state, she never devoured humans, and this has held true more than two years later. Although the situation seems somewhat far-fetched, it is an indisputable fact. In the event that Nezuko does assault a human, Tanjiro Kamado, as well as... Sakonji Urokodaki, Giyu Tomioka, and lastly BoBoiBoy will atone by committed seppuku."_

The boys gasped upon hearing this from Urokodaki's letter. The fact that both Urokodaki and Giyu are risking their lives for them, and the boys as well, for Nezuko's sin of killing a human shows that they won't allow Nezuko to be slain by the Demon Slayers. They teared when they looked at Giyu.

"So the other boy was right." Tengen was almost convinced. "However, that letter alone doesn't prove us flamboyantly! We need more proof if she doesn't attack humans!"

"I'm in complete denial as well." Iguro doesn't want to abstain. "It's practically impossible for a demon to live that long without having to devour a human. Like I have stated, I loathe demons as much as I loathe people accompanying them."

"Hm!" Kyojuro crossed his arms while still kneeling down. "I also find it inconceivable! Two years without feasting our kind? Truly mind-boggling!"

"So, what if they commit seppuku?" Sanemi lowered his head. "If you want to die, then rot to death for all I care! It's no guarantee! Not by a long shot!"

"Shinazugawa is right!" Kyojuro voted on Sanemi's opinion. "If she kills and devours humans, there's no coming back from that! It won't bring back the people who were killed!"

"You do have a point." Oyakata said.

"In that case..."

"Master!"

Oyakata continued. "We can't guarantee that she won't attack humans. We can't prove it. That said... We also can't prove that she will attack humans."

This surprised Sanemi.

"The fact is that Nezuko has refrained from devouring humans for more than two years, and also that there are four people risking their lives for her. To reject this notion, those who reject it must offer an even more convincing argument."

BoBoiBoy tensed when he sees Oyakata staring at him and Tanjiro, or at least, he's trying to when he literally can't see the white-haired streak boy and the dark redhead.

He then faced the Hashiras. "Do you all have the will to do so? Also, there's something I'd like to relay to you, my children."

They all waited for Oyakata's next sentence.

"Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy here have met Kibutsuji."

Now this brings a total shocker to every Hashira presented, except Giyu and Muichiro.

"No, impossible!" Tengen's reaction was surprising. "Even when no Hashira has ever crossed paths with him?!"

"Kya!" Mitsuri was knocked over by Tengen when he leaned forward to face the two boys held down by Sanemi.

"You mean these kids...? What did he looked like? What about his powers? When did this take place?" Tengen bombarded them with questions.

"Did you battle him?" Muichiro asked as he finally spoke up, curious of their encounter with the very first demon.

"What was Kibutsuji doing?" Sanemi also asked while shaking their heads vigorously. "Did you both find his stronghold?! Hey, answer me!"

_'I'm... I'm seeing stars...!'_ BoBoiBoy's head began to feel dizzy from all the shaking.

"Shut up! I asked them first!" Tengen said sharply.

"First, tell us what powers Kibutsuji has!" Sanemi asked.

Thankfully, Oyakata put up his pointing finger near his mouth as a shush gesture to silence the two curious Hashiras. It immediately did the trick as all of them followed the indirect order.

"Kibutsuji has sent pursuers after Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy. Though his purpose may simply be to silence them, now that Kibutsuji's given himself away for the first time, I don't want to let go. I also believe something's happening to Nezuko that Kibutsuji never saw coming. Can you try to understand?"

They all went silent as they process all this information in their heads as much as possible. From the young Demon Slayers' explanation to Urokodaki's letter to Nezuko. The debate of questioning the latter had ceased.

Except for one single Hashira.

"No, I can't understand, Master." Sanemi spoke up.

"If it were human, I'd be okay with letting it live, but not a demon! Not after all that we the Demon Slayers have gone through in battle! Not after so many people have lost their lives! It's unacceptable!"

Sanemi did the unexpected and lets his hands go, freeing both Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy from his grip. He pulled out his sword and cut his forearm to let free blood from seeping out from it.

_'Wh-What's he doing?'_ BoBoiBoy gaped at seeing Sanemi cutting his own flesh.

_'Eh? Eh? What are you doing? What are you doing?'_ Mitsuri thought worriedly. _'You're soiling the garden!'_

"Master! I will prove it to you myself! The sheer ugliness of a demon!" Sanemi exclaimed, wanting more to prove the Master he is wrong.

"Sanemi..."

He placed down the box and beats his foot on it while motioned his bleeding forearm to be dripping on top of the box.

"Hey, demon! It's time to eat! Sink your teeth in this!" Sanemi taunted Nezuko inside the box.

Tanjiro is trying his best to squirm his way out of the rope's bindings. He must get to his sister and stop the Wind Hashira from provoking her too far.

_'We can't do anything with the rope in the way!'_ BoBoiBoy grits his teeth and wiggles his way closer to the box. _'Can't believe I didn't think of burning it off when I had the chance thanks to my own stupidity!'_

In amidst of trying to wring his way out of the rope, he can hear Nezuko clawing inside with the blood entering the narrow gaps of the box. She can be heard growling.

"No need to force yourself to hold back. Just show us your true colors and I'll obliterate you right here!"

"NEZUKO!" Tanjiro screamed and glared at the Wind Hashira.

"Shinazugawa, it's no good doing it in the sunlight. We have to go into the shadows or the demon won't show its face." Iguro pointed out his mistake.

"Master, please forgive this discourtesy." Sanemi bowed. He starts bringing himself and the box in the half interior of the mansion. He threw the box and walked over to it to stab Nezuko inside again.

"STOP IT!" Tanjiro angrily screamed before getting elbowed in the back by Iguro.

"NEZUKO...!" BoBoiBoy doesn't have the energy to move due to Iguro forcefully using his foot to restrain his movements by holding him down.

"Get... Off... Me!" BoBoiBoy muttered in an angry tone and glared, making Iguro almost winced at his intimidation.

"Come on out, demon!"

Sanemi stabbed her a second time.

"Look, it's the human blood you love so much!"

BoBoiBoy is forced to watch this horrible act played out in front of him. With Iguro digging his foot further, he felt his insides being squeeze slowly with the pressure being applied. The torture was unbearable to say the least when he's critically injured from his last battle and the strains from using Elemental Split for too long.

Seeing as Nezuko is not coming out from her box, Sanemi placed his blade on the lock and pried it open. She rise from the box slowly while growling like a feral animal.

The Hashiras can now finally see the demon Oyakata and the two Demon Slayers were talking about. They watched with curious eyeballs to what she can do.

_'My lungs... are being squeezed...!'_ BoBoiBoy screamed when Iguro pushed him down a bit further.

Nezuko had her mouth salivating with the sight of blood. It's not that she is forced to look at it but her hunger meter rose indefinitely. As a demon, she hadn't a choice what to do if she wants to devour what's in front of her or die trying, unaware of the consequences that brings when she did.

So she kept staring at the blood.

* * *

**I apologize for the wait and said that I'll be introducing the secret character in this chapter but I realize my mistake and had to do it in the next chapters, I guess. I'm really sorry about that.**

**I'd like to think that some of you like seeing BBB react with Nezuko getting stabbed. Then again, he had sustained injuries at Mt. Natagumo so it won't make sense if he would have outright change into Thunderstorm or Blaze if that happened. It's only natural if I only let Tanjiro expressed his anger towards it since Nezuko is the last of his family while BBB view her as a close friend.**

**Thanks for reading it and I'll see you all in the next one.**

**~ s a y o n a r a**


	26. Hashira Meeting

Nezuko continues to stare at the slipping blood of Sanemi's forearm. There is something holding Nezuko back from lunging at the forearm and give it a good bite out of it. Doing so will completely debunk everything Oyakata, Tanjiro, and BoBoiBoy had said.

"What's the matter, demon? Come on! You know you want it." Sanemi urged her on. Nezuko growled even louder.

With every Hashira present, the eager ones are still planting their sights to the two people behind Oyakata and the twins so that they'll know if Nezuko is truly what the letter and their statements says she is. The stoic ones already knew the outcome of this or probably expected a fortuitous result.

Iguro tightens his strength to dig the two boys deeper to the ground, much to their pained expressions and grunts.

"Iguro, you're digging into them too hard. Ease up a bit please." Shinobu asked Iguro to lighten his restraints.

"I'm only holding them down because they're trying to move." Iguro replied casually. Both Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy were giving their best to get out of his iron grips. Bloodshot eyes and popping veins were present.

"Kamado, BoBoiBoy, if you use any Breathing Techniques while your lungs are being squeezed, your veins will burst." Shinobu explained.

"Their veins will burst!" Tengen liked the sound of that. "I like it! Sounds flamboyant! Come on! Start bursting!"

Mitsuri tilts her head at hearing Tengen saying that and worried what would happen to the boys. She is even more worried at the white-streaked haired boy since he looked like he's about to explode in rage.

"Poor souls... Such weak, pathetic children. Namu Amida Butsu." Gyomei said, still clasping his hands in a prayer.

Nezuko heavily breathes and veins bulges on the sides of her head and on her forehead. Blood seeped to the floor mat. She is having trouble keeping up with her resistance to hold back the urge to devour Sanemi. The latter cackled, almost having Nezuko right where he wants her to be.

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy gave every ounce of their strength to get themselves free from the rope as well as from Iguro. With their yelling increasing in volume, they forcefully broke the rope that bound their hands.

Iguro acted out of surprise and lets them go. Giyu grabbed his arm and sweeped his leg away, giving the boys room to get a move on. They ran to the porch.

"Nezuko!" They said simultaneously to make sure their voice reached her.

Speaking of the Kamado demon, in her vision, the first thing she sees is the encounter between them and Giyu two years ago.

_"She's my sister! She's my younger sister! Nezuko is different! Though I don't know how it happened!"_ A 13-year-old Tanjiro defended her against Giyu.

_"Please listen to him! Don't kill his only family left!"_ She heard BoBoiBoy, 14 years of age, making a stand and stood beside Tanjiro.

The next scene in her perspective brings her in the kitchen with Tanjuro Kamado and Kie Kamado, Tanjiro and Nezuko's father and mother. They all looked at Nezuko while saying unheard words.

She found herself outside of their household. The breezing wind flew and cherry blossom trees blooming in this season. Shigeru ran around with Nezuko's haori holding in his hands. Rokuta clinging on to Nezuko asking if she wants to play with him. Takeo chased Shigeru playfully. Hanako tip-toing playfully then joins along with her siblings having fun.

_"All humans are your family. Protect humans."_ Urokodaki's voice rang in her head.

Tanjiro lastly appears, waving over someone who is visiting them, **BoBoiBoy.** His face filled with genuine happiness while he is holding a basket filled with fruits. He puts them away and the two looked at the female Kamado with looks of positivity.

_"Humans are to be protected and saved. Never hurt them."_

She then finally sees herself. Without the muzzle covering her mouth as she looks at the boys in front of them.

_"I will never hurt them."_

The Nezuko right now still has her sights on the blood. Heavily breathing, she mustered up the strength to turn her head away and shut her eyes to prevent seeing more of his blood.

Sanemi gasped when he sees this. The fact that this demon resisted to get his blood was completely baffling to him.

The boys let out a relieved sigh, knowing that Nezuko isn't going to be killing anyone. Though BoBoiBoy slightly smiles because he still believes Nezuko is still human from the inside.

"What just happened?" Oyakata asked due to his blindness.

"The demon girl turned her back in disgust." One of his daughters answered and described. "Although she'd been stabbed three times by Shinazugawa, and despite his flaunting of his bloody arm in her face, she restrained herself and did not bite."

Oyakata smiled. "So now, it's been proved that Nezuko won't attack humans, right?"

Iguro roughly removes his wrist being grabbed by Giyu. "What do you think you're doing, Tomioka?"

"Boys..." Oyakata called. "I'm sure that even after this, there are some who can't accept Nezuko. You must prove it to them starting now. That both of you and Nezuko can fight as Demon Slayers. That you can be useful."

As they realized what they are sitting there for, they knelt and bowed their heads as a sign of respect.

_'His voice... His voice hits me like a cloud fell on my head. I feel so at ease just by listening to him.'_ BoBoiBoy thought.

"Go out and defeat a Twelve Kizuki. Do that, and you'll both be accepted by all. And it will give more weight to your words."

The white-streaked haired boy wants to speak up that they have already defeated Rui, who is a Twelve Kizuki. However, in doing so would bring a ridiculous argument among Hashiras as they'll find it unbelievable again.

_'I guess we have to do it again, even if it means getting ourselves into more serious situations that requires life or death.'_

"I... Nezuko, BoBoiBoy, and I will defeat Muzan Kibutsuji! We will do it for sure! Strike with the sword that will stop the chain of grief!" Tanjiro fails to realize what the Master had stated and that brings a giggle from BoBoiBoy.

"T-Tanjiro..." BoBoiBoy tries to not burst out in laughter. "The Master meant that we have to defeat a Twelve Kizuki. Not Muzan yet."

"He's right. As you're both ill-equipped to do so right now, let's start by defeating a Twelve Kizuki, all right?" Oyakata clarified.

At that moment, Tanjiro's face had popped tomato red from the embarrassing comment he said earlier. His hair spiked.

"Yes, sir."

"Pfft!" Mitsuri almost laughed her head off. _'You mustn't laugh! You mustn't, you mustn't, you mustn't!'_

Shinobu, Gyomei, and Tengen are also the victims of wanting to laugh at Tanjiro's dramatic sentence.

"It goes without saying that the Hashiras of the Demon Slayer Corps have phenomenal skills. After training themselves to death, they have defied death, and they've also defeated Twelve Kizukis." Oyakata said.

"Hm! A good attitude to have!" Kyojuro exclaimed.

"That is why Hashiras receive respect and preferential treatment. So, boys, mind your manners when you speak."

They sat up. "Y-Yes, sir!"

"One more thing, Sanemi... Obanai..."

Iguro hung his head down. "Don't torment the younger ones too much."

"As you wish." Iguro said, almost guilty of what he did to both of the boys.

Sanemi also bowed in respect to the Master's wish, while Nezuko is in her box letting out steam like an angry child.

"As you wish."

"Boys, we have concluded our business with you. You may step back." Oyakata now dismissed their trial.

_'Okay, now what? Now that we're done with the trial, where can we go?'_ BoBoiBoy thought as he didn't think of what to do after this.

Fortunately, Shinobu raised her hand. "In that case, allow me to take Kamado and BoBoiBoy into my house."

Tanjiro just spaced out after hearing it. Shinobu clapped her hands to summon her fellow Kakushis.

"All right, then! Take them away please!"

The female Kakushi ran all the way to pick up Nezuko's box. Once Nezuko spotted her, she slowly stepped back with a sweat drop.

"Pardon me for cutting in front of you!" The male Kakushi hastily bowed to the Master and to the Hashiras before picking up Tanjiro. He grabbed Tanjiro by the collar of his uniform and took off in great speed.

"Hey kid, can you walk?" The female Kakushi asked as she carried the box on her back.

"Yeah. I can still walk." He replied.

"Good. Now please hurry up because we don't want to interrupt their meeting!" She grabbed his hand quickly and dragged him away from the rest of the high-ranking Demon Slyers and the Master.

"Now then, let us begin the Hashira Meet—"

"HOLD ON A MINUTE!"

The sound of Tanjiro's voice boomed around the corner as he ran back.

"COME BACK HERE!" The male and female Kakushi chased him until they pinned him down to the ground.

"Please allow me to head-butt that man covered in scars!" Tanjiro requested. "I gotta—"

"SHUT UP! KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" The male Kakushi exclaimed while he and the female Kakushi repeatedly hit Tanjiro although barely their hits.

BoBoiBoy stood a feet away, watching the stunt being played out with a blank face.

"Don't make this harder on any of us, Tanjiro. Like, c'mon man!" BoBoiBoy sweatdrops.

"I gotta head-butt him as many times as he stabbed Nezuko! Head-butting isn't a violation of the Corps rules, right?" Tanjiro continued on his facade.

"Shut up! Settle down now!" The female Kakushi tried silencing the wild redhead. Meanwhile, Muichiro grabs a pebble.

"LET GO OF ME!" Tanjiro squirmed as they both locked his arms.

"CUT IT OUT!"

Muichiro flings three pebbles towards Tanjiro's face thrice, making him interrupt his struggles and toppled forward.

"You're not allowed to interrupt the Master." Muichiro said while playing with a small pebble.

"It's about time you rest up, Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy said sarcastically.

"We beg your pardon!"

"We beg your pardon, Master!"

"Master Tokito!"

"We beg your pardon!"

"We assure you that this boy will be severely reprimanded, so—"

"So please! Please!"

Were the Kakushis' apologies.

_'Muichiro! What a fine boy! So cool!'_ Mitsuri had hearts floating around her head as she stared at Muichiro.

"Just get out of our sight."

"Yes, sir!"

And with that, they dragged the boys away from the meeting.

"Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy..."

They turned back their heads.

"Give Miss Tamayo my regards."

They widen their eyes as he knew Tamayo as well. The Kakushis ran to bring them to Shinobu's household where they will be treated accordingly.

"Hold on a second! I just heard him mention Miss Tamayo's name!" Tanjiro said while being carried on the male Kakushi's back.

"We all heard him, Tanjiro!" BoBoiBoy responds while running beside the female Kakushi. "To think he actually knows Lady Tamayo means..."

Whilst running, the female Kakushi gave Tanjiro a one-two on his face to show her frustration.

"Don't you say another word! We got yelled at because of you!"

"I thought I'd pee my pants!" The male Kakushi exclaims.

She looked over to BoBoiBoy. "Good thing you weren't like this kid! Otherwise, I'd also beaten you up as well!"

He gulps. "Well, I know my limits when it comes to attack the ones who hurt my loved ones!"

She then pinches Tanjiro's cheeks wider. "You don't know how terrifying the Hashiras are!"

"Try to read the room! Read it!"

"I'll never forgive you as long as I live!"

"I'll never forgive you!"

"Apologize!"

"Apologize! Apologize!"

"I... I'm sorry." Tanjiro said tiredly.

* * *

They had arrived at the place Shinobu has been meaning to take them after the trial. The entirety of her home is surrounded with a wide fence that circles around the mansion. A Japanese styled architecture, most suitable to those living here with average lives. Not to mention a whole load of greenery around to aesthetically please the soar eyes.

"Hello! Is anyone home?" The female Kakushi called out for anyone.

"Hello! Is anyone home? Hello..." She panted after they ran a good distance away from the Master's mansion to here.

"Jeez, no one's coming to the door." The male Kakushi complained.

"Let's go check out the yard." She suggested.

They walk around to find an entrance inside the mansion after knowing the front is deserted.

"Hey, walk on your own." The male Kakushi said to Tanjiro.

"I'm sorry. It's just that my whole body is aching like crazy." Tanjiro said while wincing in slight pain.

"What about you?" The female Kakushi asked to the other boy. "Are you still fine after all that running?"

BoBoiBoy shrugged. "It could've been worse. My body feels like it's going to shut down at any moment and I want to sleep."

He yawned before asking the Kakushis their names. "By the way, I never got your names. I'm BoBoiBoy. And the boy that guy's carrying is Tanjiro Kamado."

"I'm **Akira**." She introduced herself. "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"The name's **Goto**." He said in a plain tone. "And thanks for asking who we are. Most Demon Slayers never even bothered to greet us nor ask our names. We just do our jobs to service our Masters."

BoBoiBoy nodded. "Wow. You guys must have had it rough to be carrying out so many tasks."

Akira waved him. "We are fine on our own. We Kakushi are capable of managing our lifestyle to a level of normal. It's because Oyakata-sama wants everyone to be treated fairly so here we are."

"Oh, I see. That's great to hear actually." BoBoiBoy grinned. "It's nice to know that happens to everyone."

"I'm starting to like you kid." She smiled underneath her mask. "Maybe you aren't so dim-witted as Kamado right there."

"I heard that." Tanjiro mumbled.

"Oh, Tanjiro is just tired and got a lot of things in his mind. Please don't berate him any longer." BoBoiBoy tried to dismiss it.

Their walk went a bit long to get to the other yard since they just conversed with the other boy. BoBoiBoy takes a good look at his surroundings. Shrubs, bushes, plants of any varieties, and other houses as well. It's quite a good place to live here.

"I knew that the headquarters were huge, but this mansion's something else, huh?" Tanjiro said and takes in the whole scene.

As they got closer, butterflies almost swarmed the four. They dispersed immediately once they were in direct contact with each of them.

"Butterflies..." BoBoiBoy held out his hand and one butterfly landed on his hand. "Wasn't this place called the **Butterfly Mansion?**"

They made it to the yard where Akira mentioned to go to. It was the same as any other yards. Too open and provided much room for training purposes.

"Hey, there's someone." Goto said. "Someone's here."

"That would be, um..."

BoBoiBoy stared at the person he's looking at and was surprised to see it was the same girl again that he encountered in Final Selection and at Mt. Natagumo.

"Oh, right! The Tsuguko... Her name is..."

"Tsuguko?" The boys said.

"It's **Master Kanao Tsuyuri.**" Goto said. Kanao is seen with butterflies around her while she held out her finger with one butterfly sitting on top.

"It's the girl from Final Selection." Tanjiro muttered.

"Hey, somebody's forgotten how they got stomped on by Master Kanao last night." Goto reminded him of last night's events.

"By the way, what does a Tsuguko mean?" BoBoiBoy asked since it's his first time hearing it.

"A Tsuguko is a swordsman trained by a Hashira. Only the ones with mind-blowing skills and talent get chosen. She's a girl, but she's awesome!"

"A Tsuguko, huh..." BoBoiBoy mused. However, there's one thought that he didn't quite get yet.

_'Hold on, wasn't there another Demon Slayer by her side? I didn't get a closer look since they surprised attack me and got knocked out. But that sound... The sound they made... It's strangely familiar to what it was back home!'_

Before he can continue with his line of thoughts, Akira marched forward and bowed in front of Kanao.

"Please forgive us, Master Tsuyuri. We were ordered to come here by Master Kocho." She ended her bow and straighten herself up.

"Permission to enter the mansion?"

Kanao didn't answer as she only continued to smile at Akira.

"Uh, do you mind?" Akira blinked twice.

Kanao still gave her the same treatment.

"Weird. Why isn't she answering her?" BoBoiBoy whispered to Goto. Who in turn, shrugged.

"You don't mind, do you?" Akira wanted to get an answer out from Kanao as politely as possible.

BoBoiBoy's ears perked up when he heard footsteps from behind.

_'Who is—'_

"AND WHO ARE YOU?!" A familiar girl appeared behind them and shouted, giving them startled expressions.

"Uh..." Goto tried to answer.

"We were ordered by Master Kocho!" Akira quickly answered.

"Are you a Kakushi?" She asked before looking at the injured people. "You've brought an injured per—"

When her eyes landed on BoBoiBoy, she gasped at his presence. It took only a minute for BoBoiBoy to process who she is and where he had met her. Until it finally clicked in his head, he cheerfully yelled.

"Aoi!" BoBoiBoy smiled. "So you are safe! I'm glad!"

Aoi's eyes shook. She is standing in front of the person who had once saved her life back in Final Selection.

"B-BoBoiBoy?" She can hardly believe she can see him again. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." He placed his hands on his hips. "I'm really glad you're here! Makes me feel happy knowing you passed Final Selection like me!"

Aoi lightly blushed. "Y-Yeah. You too."

The Kakushis and Tanjiro were silently observing the pair and wondered what had happened at Final Selection. Even Kanao is interested to what they were talking about.

"A-Anyways, please come this way." Her hard exterior came back, but it only came out forcefully as she was surprised to see her saviour to be here again.

"All right! Let's go!" BoBoiBoy followed Aoi to wherever she'll lead them. The Kakushis followed after her, leaving Kanao by herself with the butterflies.

Tanjiro casted one last look at Kanao from behind. Something about her had intrigued Tanjiro and wanted to know more about her.

* * *

"FIVE TIMES?! I GOTTA TAKE THIS FIVE TIMES?! A DAY?! AND I HAVE TO KEEP TAKING THIS MEDICINE FOR THREE MONTHS?! IF I TAKE THIS, I CAN'T EAT ANYTHING, YOU KNOW! I MEAN IT'S REALLY BITTER! IT'S SUCH AN ORDEAL!

"SO, YOU MEAN MY ARMS AND LEGS WILL HEAL JUST BY TAKING MEDICINE?! FOR REAL?! LISTEN, ARE THEY REALLY GONNA HEAL?! TELL ME HOW THEY'RE GONNA GET HEALED!"

"Please stop shouting, will you?" A young nurse, **Kiyo Terauchi**, politely beckons for him to call down.

"SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THIS TO ME BETTER! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IF I FORGOT TO TAKE IT EVEN ONCE?! HEY!"

"So, that guy is still making a commotion." Aoi said with her usual face.

"I never thought I'd say this but, I think I missed his screaming." BoBoiBoy joked.

"You know this guy?" Aoi asked.

"Yeah, he's my friend."

"LISTEN! MY ARMS AND LEGS! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO MY ARMS AND LEGS?! HEY! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IF I FORGOT TO TAKE IT?! HEY! HEY! HEY!"

"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro almost cried upon seeing him.

"Please try to be quiet!" Aoi yelled.

Zenitsu continued screaming until he gargles like a platypus.

"Didn't we already explain it to you numerous times?! If you don't stop this nonsense now, we'll tie you up!" Aoi warned. Unfortunately, it was drowned out with him making noises like a platypus, literally.

"Really now!" Aoi is really done with him then she walked away.

"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro called out to him, earning him another scream.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?" Tanjiro concerning-ly asked.

"Don't worry. I was there with Zenitsu so he is perfectly fine. Good thing he wasn't encased in ice or something." BoBoiBoy laughed it off awkwardly while scratching the back of his head.

"Hold up, it was YOU that made the ice?!" Goto almost did a spit-take and almost blew a fuse at BoBoiBoy. He had put two-and-two together and realized who had made it possible in the first place.

"Uhh... yeah. About that... I made that ice last night."

"I ALMOST DIED FROM HYPOTHERMIA BECAUSE OF YOU!" He poked BoBoiBoy's cheek rapidly.

"I'm sorry!" BoBoiBoy comically yelled out and apologized.

"Huh...? T-Tanjiro... B-BoBoiBoy..." Zenitsu removed his head from his pillow and leapt on to Tanjiro but only leapt onto Goto instead.

"AAAAAAHHHH! TANJIROOOOOOO! LISTEN TO ME, WILL YOU?! I GOT STUNG BY THIS STINKY SPIDER, AND THE POISON HURT LIKE CRAZY, OKAY?! AND THAT GIRL'S BEEN YELLING AT ME ALL THIS TIME! I HATE MY LIFE!" Zenitsu sobbed onto Goto.

"Hey, get away from me. I've got nothing to do with this." He felt disgusted as his uniform is getting slightly damp from Zenitsu's tears.

"Zenitsu, did you get smaller or something?" Tanjiro noticed his body shape to be unusual and asked.

"I almost got turned into a spider." When he lets his head go from Goto, his snot traveled all its way to his uniform from his nose.

"G-Gross..." BoBoiBoy had goosebumps and backed off slowly.

"My arms and legs are really short right now." Zenitsu explained.

"Is that right?" He calmed down.

"So Zenitsu, how are you holding up? Everything okay?" BoBoiBoy asks as usual for his friend.

"I'm okay. My limbs are short but more than happy to be alive." Zenitsu said.

"Well, you did a great job, Zenitsu! We're all alive and that's what matters most!" He said cheerfully.

BoBoiBoy then lets them have their talk and looked around the room. It's a little infirmary for patients with lots of beds for them to rest. When he looked to his right, he is astounded to see Inosuke laying down on his bed.

"Inosuke..." BoBoiBoy then remembered what happened to him when he was in their fight against the Father Spider Demon. How the monster almost scrunched his head made him angry. He didn't notice that his hands balled into fists.

_'At least now you can take many breaks from now on, Inosuke. You don't have to worry about that demon anymore because I took care of it for us.'_

The sound of Tanjiro falling off from Goto's back snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Inosuke, I'm so glad you're all right!" Tanjiro begins to tear up. "I'm so glad you're all right! I'm so sorry! I couldn't rescue you!"

"Tanjiro, you know I was also there with Inosuke as well." BoBoiBoy said sadly.

When Inosuke talked, they didn't expect him to not shout or anything.

"It's okay... Don't worry about it..." Inosuke answered in a raspy voice.

"Your voice... Is that you, Inosuke?" Tanjiro asked after he hears Inosuke not constantly shouting all the time.

"I heard he lost his voice or something." Zenitsu said. "I don't have all the details, but I heard he, like, got hit in the neck, and when he yelled at the top of his lungs at the end, that finished it off. And it did a number on his throat."

"..." BoBoiBoy stared at the broken boar.

"He's depressed now, so it's made him gentle, and it really cracks me up!" Zenitsu then cackles while having snot still connected to Goto.

"Why are you cackling in that creepy way all of a sudden?" Tanjiro asked innocently. "What's going on?"

Zenitsu stopped and gave Tanjiro a creeped out stare.

"I'm sorry for being so weak..." Inosuke said.

That made them all feel empathy for Inosuke. They never hear him so depressed before, even pushing aside his pride to say that he is weak.

"Guys... Inosuke almost died." BoBoiBoy finally told them. They gasped at what he just said.

"H-How did that happen to Inosuke?" Tanjiro wanted to know the details."

"We got in a really tough spot but I was able to save him and killed the demon before Mr. Tomioka showed up." He said. He didn't want to elaborate it any further, much less it wants to bring up the horrible images of Inosuke almost having his head crushed and blood seeped out from his mask.

"How'd you kill the demon? Last time we fought it, we couldn't lay a dent on him!"

BoBoiBoy sighed. "I'll tell you later, Tanjiro. But for now, I just wanna lay down and get comfy as soon as possible. I'm beat."

He chose a bed that is on the opposite end of them and chose the middle one. "Also, guys, cut him some slack okay? He had gone through a lot last night so it's best to keep it down."

The boys nodded, knowing what he was saying. To be fair, he was there when it happened so they understood what goes on inside Inosuke's head right now.

"AAHH! DID I TAKE MY MORNING MEDS?! DO YOU SEE ME TAKE THEM?! SOMEBODY?! DID YOU SEE?! SOMEBODY?! DID YOU SEEEEE?!"

* * *

The young Demon Slayers have now fully deserved their long awaited break inside the infirmary. BoBoiBoy and Zenitsu slept soundly despite it still morning. Inosuke still laid there, presumably to be sleeping. Tanjiro stretched his arms behind his head as he looked at his two companions and his brother figure across him.

"Zenitsu... Inosuke... Thank goodness. You're alive." Tanjiro, now formerly dressed in his patient clothing like Zenitsu and Inosuke, relaxed and smile at his friends' fortunate survival on the nightmarish mountain that once housed the spider demons.

"BoBoiBoy..." But the most gratitude he can ever give to, is of course, the one who stood alongside him the most. "You get lots of rest. You deserve it."

BoBoiBoy mumbled something in his sleep, most likely dreaming at this point.

_BoBoiBoy was training in a planet that had strange weather occurrings, the landmarks that he memorized to be where he practiced his horse stance, the training where he can snipe the apple from a moving tree, training to outrun Kang Kongs and King Kang Kong in the dark._

_This is Hang Kasa's home planet._

_"BoBoiBoy!"_

_He stopped what he's practicing on and ran to Hang Kasa's hut for a break._

_"You called, Tok Kasa?" He said while wiping away some of his sweat._

_"You've been training for hours, BoBoiBoy. Give your body a moment to rest." He offered him tea._

_"Thanks, Tok." BoBoiBoy smiled and drank some of it. It vaguely tasted like Tok Aba's cocoa._

_"Huh?"_

_He then found himself in his grandfather's cocoa shop. He no longer wears his TAPOPS Uniform as he is wearing his old outfit when he was 11-years-old._

_"BoBoiBoy?" Ochobot shook him gently. "You spaced out for a minute. Are you okay?"_

_"Yeah." Tok Aba appeared behind BoBoiBoy. "Ever since I made you the cocoa, you've been acting weird lately."_

_He can't find his voice to talk. The transition from Hang Kasa's planet to his home Earth gave him a slight headache._

_"I'm sorry... I... I need to..."_

_BoBoiBoy dropped his mug and ran away from the shop. Tok Aba and Ochobot both yelled after him but he didn't bother to look back. In amidst of his running, he found himself no longer in a park._

_"Where am I now?" He looked at a place that reminded him of where he had his final fight against Retak'ka._

_He looked at himself and was surprised to see Thunderstorm and Solar's fusion form: Supra. The thought confused him as to why he was in this form._

_When he tried to move, he wouldn't budge._

_'I can't...! I can't control my body!'_

_His mind was still in control but only his body is. He charged up his strongest attack. The same attack he used against Retak'ka. He didn't aim for the sky. He aimed at below._

_Below is where the dam is._

_He is standing on top of the dam._

_He aimed towards the end of it._

_He recognized that location._

_That's where his friends were at._

_They all looked at him with terrified expressions._

_"No... Please! Don't make me do this!"_

_He tried everything to get his body under control._

_But he couldn't._

_He cried._

_He yelled for his friends._

_Then he fired his attack beam._

_An explosion._

_Everything went dark._

_

* * *

_

BoBoiBoy woke up. Sweat filled his face accompanied with a look of dread.

"A bad dream..." He wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He looked at the window and see that it is already mid-day. There's no clock here but he can guess it must be around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

The door to the infirmary opened, revealing to be Aoi behind it.

"Good afternoon, BoBoiBoy." She flashed him a smile, completely reversing her face whenever she's with other patients.

"Hello Aoi." He returned the same gesture.

"Did you take your medicine already?" Aoi asked.

Since he was sleeping, he didn't want to forget his schedule of taking his meds. He took one immediately while doing his best not to make a disgusted face.

"The taste is awful but it does get the job done. But I guess this is what medicine does to your taste buds."

Aoi frowned. "That's the problem with that guy. He always complains with the medicine's taste and always comes crawling to me. He should at least be lucky that the medicine is going to be resetting his body back to normal."

"He just needs to get used to taste, is what I'll say." BoBoiBoy looked over to Inosuke. "What about Inosuke? Any kind of violent reactions from him?"

Aoi shook her head. "So far, none. He's been like this ever since we put him in bed the first time. You don't think this has anything to do with the events last night?"

BoBoiBoy flinched but kept his composure. "Yes it does. But I don't wanna talk about."

It intrigued her but respected his choice of not telling about it. They've been through hell together so it must be pretty traumatic to say the least.

"Where's Tanjiro?" BoBoiBoy asked once more.

"Oh, that boy? Well, he's going to put that demon inside the box into another room." Aoi told him. "If it's not much to ask, why are you accompanying him with a demon in tow? I heard about it from the Kakushis."

BoBoiBoy breathed in and out. "It's a long story."

"You can make it shorter if you want to." Aoi said.

"I'm sure I can trust you enough, right?"

She smiled. "You saved my life before. So it's all the more reason for me to trust you, BoBoiBoy."

BoBoiBoy took in a breath and racked up in his mind for a summarized story of what's been happening to Tanjiro, Nezuko, and himself. After a few hours of talking and telling her the story of why he's accompanying with them, BoBoiBoy sunk back in his bed.

It turned out that he basically told her everything he knew thus far.

"I see..." Aoi processed all it in slowly. "I'm really sorry to hear that, BoBoiBoy. I couldn't imagine a life to live in a world you don't belong in."

He sighed. "It's not like I have much of a choice. What I want to know are answers as to how I got here. But so far, I have nothing."

She pats his hand. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. I'm sorry that I can't be much help for you but all I can say is that... Good luck."

To express how happy he is, he gave her one of his sincerest smiles. That alone made Aoi blushed a light pink and turns her head away.

"Thank you, Aoi."

Too flustered and blushing like a little cherry, she excused herself out of the room saying that she'll have more patients to tend to. She then reminded him to take his medicine once in a while after every meal.

"Now that she's gone, I guess I'll stroll around the mansion before finding Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy sat up and gave some good stretches. He hit some very sore spots and that made him winced a bit.

He puts on his slippers and leaves the still-sleeping duo in their little world of dreams or nightmares. He takes a moment to stretch his legs first before taking another step forward.

He strolls for a bit while looking at some paintings and the indoor plants along the way.

"Nice place they have here. Makes it feel like home than a mansion itself."

He reached through a porch that leads to a yard outside. It was quite atmospheric.

_'It's quite nice over here. Maybe I'll just stay here for a bit.'_ He thought and takes a sit on the porch and let himself get immersed in the nature outside. He had forgotten about the horrors of Mt. Natagumo and let peace and tranquility enter his mind.

_'Now that that's over, I'm beginning to wonder if this was all meant to be.'_ BoBoiBoy then drowns himself in his thoughts.

_'Let's start from the beginning. First, I was lying in a pile of snow. I met Tanjiro who saved me from that said snow. We saw his family, murdered by Muzan Kibutsuji, who is the very first human to have ever become a demon. We met Giyu Tomioka, the very first Demon Slayer we see. We were trained by Sakonji Urokodaki, a former Hashira. We slayed many demons until we get to this point of finding Nezuko a cure to reverse her condition.'_

He sighed.

_'Y'know, I'm starting miss what a normal life feels like. Nowadays, it's just me and my friends trying to rescue a bunch of Power Spheras from every nook and cranny. But given to my situation, I'm now rescuing and saving people from man-eaters who called themselves demons. I'm starting to think that Fate is messing with me.'_

He glanced at the sky.

_'For what it's worth, maybe in exchange for saving the whole galaxy from being conquered by Retak'ka, I'd be sent to another world to try and save it as well?'_

He crossed his arms while looking at the sky. He leaned onto a wooden support beam. He then uncrossed his arms and looked at his right wrist. His power watch attached to it.

_'I don't know. It couldn't be it right? If it's not that, then what was it? How was I transferred from one world to another? Unless... it had something to do with Ochobot? But that doesn't sound right. He only has power to teleport to certain distances. It's impossible that he transports me to another planet...'_

_'Or maybe... It's time traveling... or dimension traveling... Or neither?'_

BoBoiBoy blinked. He stayed in his spot for more than 5 minutes until he decided to stand up and begins his search of finding Tanjiro. But before he can turn to a corner, his ears caught footsteps.

"Aoi? Is that you?"

BoBoiBoy's heart skipped. His eyes widen like plates.

_'That voice...!'_

"Aoi? Or is that you, Kanao?"

It's a voice BoBoiBoy knew by heart. He stood frozen solid at his spot.

"Is everything all ri—"

Now when they finally showed themself, tears automatically fell on BoBoiBoy's eyes.

There's no denying about it.

They gasp.

**"B-B-BoBoiBoy...?"**

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

**"Y-Yaya...?"**

* * *

Nighttime had surfaced. Inside of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, the Master and every Hashira are all having their annual Hashira Meeting in regards to pinpointing Muzan Kibutsuji's location.

"Just as you've all reported, the demons' carnage has increased more than ever. Meaning that the threat to human life is greater than it's ever been. We'll have to bolster the ranks of the Demon Slayers. What do you all think?" Oyakata said.

"The incident on Mt. Natagumo made it crystal clear." Sanemi spoke. "The caliber of Demon Slayers has nose-dived to unbelievable levels. Most of them are useless. The trainers must be blind. You'd think they could at least tell if someone's competent or not."

Tengen brought his finger to his chin. "Well, those kids today sure seemed competent. They did land those flamboyant blows on you, Shinazugawa. They got potential."

Sanemi clicked his tongue.

"The more the human population increases, the harder it becomes to control and unify them." Shinobu states "Not to mention that the times have changed considerably in this era."

"Other than those who've had their loved ones brutally massacred, and joined the Corps, or those of distinguished pedigree who have hunted demons for generations, to ask anyone to harness as much, or even greater resolve and drive to produce results would be cruel." Gyomei said.

"Still, considering those boys ran into a Twelve Kizuki so soon after joining the Corps... They may have the power to draw them!" Kyojuro exclaimed as-a-matter-of-factly. "Even we rarely get the chance to confront one! It makes me envious!"

"Agreed." Oyakata said. "But the fact that Lower Five made such a drastic move probably means that Muzan is nowhere near Mt. Natagumo. After all, as in the case of Asukasa, whenever Muzan wishes to hide something, he creates a clear diversion to throw us off."

"It's really quite frustrating. But those demons are still freely devouring humans, gaining strength and surviving. For the sake of those who have died, there is only one thing for us to do."

"I believe that among you Hashiras who are present today, I've assembled the finest unit since the First Breathing swordsmen of the feudal era."

**"Tengen Uzui."**

**"Kyojuro Rengoku."**

**"Shinobu Kocho."**

**"Mitsuri Kanroji."**

**"Muichiro Tokito."**

**"Gyomei Himejima."**

**"Sanemi Shinazugawa."**

**"Obanai Iguro."**

**"Giyu Tomioka."**

"My children, I look forward to your success."

And that concludes the Hashira Meeting. Everyone said their farewells and called it for the night as they went on home. Oyakata's twin daughters are walking back to their rooms as Oyakata still sat in his place where the meeting had ended.

"Muzan Kibutsuji, I swear I'll defeat you if it's the last thing that I do. We will bring you down without fail."

* * *

**Finished it as quickly as possible. And here we have the secret character revealed in the spotlight.**

**That's right!**

**It's our lovable hijab girl!**

**Next chapter will be their official encounter.**

**I know the reveal is a bit underwhelming. The build-up could've been better as well as the timing.**

**But, it's better to have it like that, right?**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you all in the next one.**

**~ s a y o n a r a**


	27. Reunited At Last

**WARNING(...or can you count this as a warning? idk): This chapter will probably contain:**

**1\. Fluff**

**2\. Angst**

**3\. Wholesome**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"And this should be it."

Yaya muttered as she tucked in her patient in bed. As a nurse, she must do what she can to give these poor souls great medicated care.

She wiped away some sweat off her forehead as she had been at it for at least 2 hours. Having to take care dozens of Demon Slayers who were gravely wounded seems exhausting if continued for prolonged periods of time especially if she had some help along the process.

The other nurses, namely **Sumi Nakahara, Kiyo Terauchi, **and** Naho Takada**, are really young to be able to give treatment to the patients. But with enough teachings from Shinobu herself, they all started working independently albeit in their own little group.

After she learned that their families were slaughtered by demons, she can't help but to give them her sympathies for the loss of their loved ones. Her head hung low after she reminded herself that she is now in a world where man-eating beings roam at night time, looking for their meal in their ravenous nature. She was utterly terrified to be put in this situation considering all of this was fairly new to her.

But after two years when Shinobu first found her, she taught Yaya how to defend herself as well as giving essential advices in medical experience. Afterwards, she dedicated herself to train her mind, body, and soul. Shinobu had acknowledged her motivation to become stronger so she offered her an opportunity to become her Tsuguko and continue to train her.

Yaya complied.

in amidst of her training, she had discovered a new power that she never thought she had gotten in the first place, even Shinobu herself wasn't aware this might happen. Yaya played around with her new-found Breathing Technique and tested out it's abilities in battle against anything around her.

She will call her breathing as **Petal Breathing.**

Shinobu questioned her decision of naming her Breathing Technique as her breathing is eerily similar to **Flower Breathing**. She ultimately approved when Yaya proved it to her by testing it against a lone demon who happened to be nearby.

She eventually met Kanao whilst in her training. When she first met her, she thought Kanao was a mute, silent type. Until Shinobu explained her of Kanao's past, Yaya felt sorry for the girl's traumatic experience.

After all her training as Shinobu's Tsuguko, she was gifted herself her new Demon Slayer uniform. Yaya appreciated it and gotten herself her own haori as a pleasant bonus.

Occasionally in her nursing days, she often wore a nurse dress with her standard Demon Slayer outfit beneath it. Similar to what Aoi wears.

Even after training as her Tsuguko, Shinobu had instructed her to take part in Final Selection where she can be determined by her rank as a Demon Slayer and sees if she can hold her own against demons. As expected, she completed the trial and was ranked **Mizunoto** along with the surviving Demon Slayer and was gifted a **Kasugai Crow** then her sword's ore next to be forged.

Her missions were usually solo or duo with Kanao. The amount of missions they partaked in were impressive to some Demon Slayers as they get the job done. An impressive feat approved by Shinobu for training Yaya well.

"I need some fresh air..." Yaya sighed. A break would suit her need for recharging herself after doing much work for today. 'I'm sure the others would know that I'm gonna be taking a break.'

In the span of two years, she couldn't come to bring herself to know that she is placed in a complicated situation. She kept telling herself that this is all a dream, a bad dream, a nightmare. And that she would wake up one day to find herself surrounded by her friends and asking her if she is alright.

Sadly, that didn't come into life.

She would cry herself to sleep, stare into the abyss of her own self and said to herself if this was all meant to be. Even after trying to set everything into the back of her head, she would often breakdown and sob.

Her home.

Her family.

Her friends.

All gone.

_'BoBoiBoy...'_

Despite of what she heard and saw last night, she refused to believe what she had resonated in her ears and seen with her own two eyes. She told herself that she is slowly becoming insane that everytime she hears a word, her friends, mostly BoBoiBoy's name, would always come crawling in the back of her mind.

But had she paid any attention to what the crow said last night, then she would've approached the unknown Demon Slayer and examined them up close. On the other hand, it would just be someone she doesn't know.

She tried so hard to forget about it. She really did.

It somehow did work, but it's short-lived.

She distracted herself by tending to some patients. It did the best to get her mind off of the events last night. A content face plastered on her round face proved it. She wanted some respite from having her mind twisting in sorts of ways she can't make sense of.

_'Please let it be you... Please...'_

As time lived on, she'd wish she see BoBoiBoy or any of her friends one last time. She had always believed that one day, that there will be someone who will wake her and sees BoBoiBoy, telling her that everything is just a bad dream and lead her to her friends all waiting for her to start her day.

Her hope was shining for months. Sadly, her hope slowly dimmed as time went on.

She was about to turn to another corner when footsteps caught her hearing range. It could've been anyone but she called out.

"Aoi? Is that you?"

The footsteps stopped and a gasp was heard. That came off as strange for her.

"Aoi? Or is that you, Kanao?"

Again, no sudden movements or a reply, almost as if that person was in a trance of something.

"Is everything all ri—"

As if time had slowed down around her, what she sees with her own two eyes completely threw her off guard. Every feeling she had welled up began to resurface. It's unmistakable.

"B-B-BoBoiBoy...?"

Her voice was shaky and is having difficulty in controlling her tone. But she didn't care at that point.

"Y-Yaya...?"

His voice was the same as well. One thing she noticed about it is how a little deep-sounding it was to her.

Neither of them said anything and let their actions speak for them. BoBoiBoy still stood in his spot, paralyzed at what is in front of him while Yaya took the initiative of stepping forward to cup BoBoiBoy's cheek with her hand to make sure if he's real or a figment of her imagination.

Once her hand felt the contact she would expect, that's when she knew the crow's announcement is real and the whole time she thought he wasn't real, she was wrong. Yaya bursts into tears and immediately tackled BoBoiBoy in a heartfelt hug. She snaked her arms around him tightly and never lets him go with every fiber of her being. BoBoiBoy, tears leaking from his eyes, found his senses after the sudden contact and hugged her back in the same manner as her. They continued their moment of solitude in their arms while their sobs were the only sounds they can hear at the moment.

* * *

They sat a bit awkwardly on the porch where BoBoiBoy sat and contemplated about his life. Yaya stared at the side while trying her best not to meet his gaze. Their eyes were red from crying and they needed some space to clear their clouded thoughts from each other. Yaya had a shadow of a doubt but this is still all too surprising for her.

BoBoiBoy had never expected to meet with Yaya after two years had passed. He had a sneaking suspicion when he heard a sound that hits him close to home. He never gave much thought that it would be Yaya. BoBoiBoy slapped himself mentally for not realizing it sooner.

"I..." He heard her speak for what seemed like forever. "I never thought I'd see you again..."

She almost choked on her words.

"M-Me too." BoBoiBoy responded back. "Yaya, I... I thought so too..."

Yaya mustered up the courage to look at him straight in the eyes. His brown orbs were piercing her own hazelnut orbs and she found herself trying to compose herself but failed miserably.

"I'm so happy to see you... After all this time." She said. "I thought I was the only one."

"I thought I was the only one as well!" BoBoiBoy spoke a little loud. "I keep thinking that I might never see you or our friends again! But thank goodness! I'm not alone anymore!"

"Really?" Her eyes widen. "It must be really sad, to know that we have not seen each other that much. It had been two years since I've been here."

That got his attention. "Two years? So you're just like me."

"You too?" Yaya was surprised. "I...I didn't expect that."

They went silent again, not knowing what to continue after that. It was still a shocker for both of them. But as it says, you can never expect the unexpected.

BoBoiBoy broke the ice. "So uhh... How were you doing these few years?"

Yaya smiled for the first time. An action that made BoBoiBoy's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm doing fine in most cases." She answered. "How about you?"

"I've been doing... fine." He didn't know if _fine_ was the right word for himself but it's the most appropriate. "It was pretty lonely these few years. No matter how I try to forget, the memories of you and everyone back home just breaks me. Even if I had Tanjiro or my friends here with me, I feel like I was missing something important."

"I think I know what you're talking about." Yaya picked up on it. "I know it is pretty sad that it had to be this way. I had a bad time setting myself here these past few years. I still am but I'm trying not to let it affect it."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Yaya." BoBoiBoy affixed a sad look at her. "By the way, what do you do in the last few years?"

Yaya inhaled then exhaled. "Two years ago, Lady Shinobu had trained me to become her Tsuguko. You know what a Tsuguko means right?" BoBoiBoy nodded and urged her to go on. "She trained me so that I can become a Demon Slayer because the first time I heard of it, it terrified me. And when she elaborated it a bit further, I'm really scared to go out at night." She put her hands on her legs.

"It surprised me as well. When I heard that demons existed, I can barely hold in my breath." BoBoiBoy shared. "I also trained to become a Demon Slayer like you as well."

"We really had it going with us preparing for what's coming." Yaya lighten up, earning a light chuckle from BoBoiBoy."

"This reminds me, where did Lady Shinobu find you?"

She replied. "She found me in a forest that night. I couldn't remember where because it was really dark and I was hurt at that time. And because of that I was... I was..."

Seeing her hesitate, BoBoiBoy leaned closer. Yaya scooted to the side to make sure his body didn't collide to her side.

"I was attacked by demons. I tried to fight back but then I realized that my power band was missing. This meant I have no power to defend myself. I almost got killed if it weren't for Lady Shinobu who happened to be nearby while she was on a mission."

Yaya gaze down to the ground. A frightened look casted mixing in with her eyes, shaking in terror.

"I-It was s-scary... I can never f-forget th-those faces when th-they said I w-was their next m-meal..."

She stuttered along the lines. BoBoiBoy can clearly guess she's suffering from a traumatic experience of almost being devoured by these ravenous beings. He imagined himself in her shoes and he would've been placed in the same position as her. Throughout his time doing missions with Tanjiro, he was scared at first but grew to be brave as time went on.

To Yaya, however, she was utterly afraid.

"So that's why you chose to train with Lady Shinobu."

Her reply was immediate.

"Yes. I wanted to prove myself that I'll handle any demon that would come and attack anyone. At the same time, I wanted to become stronger and protect those I really care. I wish I was stronger back then when we were still together as a squad. Do you still remember, BoBoiBoy?"

"Remember what?" BoBoiBoy said and tilted his head.

"Remember that you always protected us? When we needed you and you'd always be there to save the day? You were our everyday hero as you kept saving us from time to time. That is when I realized, we were too weak to even fight beside you..."

His eyes widen. "Y-Yaya! You know that's not true!"

"It is!" She fully faced. He was thrown off-guard from her outburst. "Think back of how many times we tried to save you from time to time! But only for you to come save us in the end because of how we can't handle one simple enemy we faced! Like Ejo Jo, like Bora Ra, like Captain Vargoba, and Retak'ka!"

BoBoiBoy hung his mouth open and thought about it. With everything happened to them, it dawned on him that he was always the one saving his friends when they themselves couldn't. Despite the amount of times they prevailed, it wasn't them that fully finished what they've started. Like Yaya said, in the end, it was all BoBoiBoy that received the full glory.

She continued. "I'm sorry about this BoBoiBoy." She was about to stand up and walk away from him until she felt a hand gripping on her own.

"Yaya... Please don't say that anymore." He pulled her back down to sit right next to him again. "I'm sorry to hear what you and our friends have gone through and I can understand that. You guys are what kept me to move myself forward and I did it to protect you guys. I didn't consider the thought of claiming all the victory but I did it to save you guys. I don't want to see you all get hurt anymore."

He whispered. "Including you..."

Yaya heard it and she flushed a red tint on her cheeks.

"But my point is, you were strong in spirit, willpower, and courage. You hadn't given up your hope for me and I'm really grateful for that. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have probably be here with you right now. And... I just wanna say thank you."

His words have made an impact on Yaya as her lips quivered and eyes never looked away from his gaze. And it was at this moment, BoBoiBoy realized he said it to her and not just the rest.

"Aaahhh! But of course, it was also our friends that were with us from the start as well! Without them, then I couldn't have been the person they wanted me to be so—"

A body lurched forward to him and arms wrapped around his neck. A head was placed right beside and he could feel the wetness of liquid dripping down behind his right shoulder. BoBoiBoy's eyes widen when he sees Yaya instinctively embracing him.

He just let it happen and followed the same gesture back at her. This time, with more care than before.

"I missed you, BoBoiBoy! I missed my family, our friends, and everyone back home! I missed them so much!" She sniffed.

"I... I... I..." He couldn't hold back. The feeling was mutual. Everyone they knew back home. They can't reach to them anymore.

"I... I missed them too, Yaya..."

* * *

The sun is beginning to set as Tanjiro finally sets the box down to a vacant room. He was very thankful that they would allow Nezuko to have her own room a distance from others. It was a real breather.

He went to the window curtains and closed them off to shield the sun's rays from penetrating any further in the room.

"It's all right now." Tanjiro turned around to stare at the box. "They said you could use this room, Nezuko."

He proceeded to sit on the side of the bed when his internal injuries ignited and made him grunt in slight pain. It wasn't a complete recovery to him as it will be all healed in due time save those to the ones who were taken part of the mission in Mt. Natagumo.

He heard a knock coming from the door and he turned his head to the source of the knocking.

"Who is it?" Tanjiro asked to the receiver.

"It's me, Tanjiro. Can I come in?" It was BoBoiBoy's voice that came from behind it. Smiling, Tanjiro said it was all right to let himself in and BoBoiBoy closed the door behind him.

"Hey BoBoiBoy. You look down today. Did something happen?" Tanjiro curved his lips downward as he sees BoBoiBoy's frown on his face. BoBoiBoy walked closer between the dark redhead and Nezuko, who opened up her own box.

"I finally found one of my friends here. It turns out that she was actually working as a nurse here in the Butterfly Mansion." He told him of his encounter with Yaya and how they finally unite after so long.

"That's good!" Tanjiro exclaimed. "Then that means that you can find the rest of them knowing one of them is here!" Tanjiro cheerfully said to his brother figure. BoBoiBoy couldn't help himself but be anxious and excited at the thought of finding the rest of his friends here in this world.

But the other part of him tells him otherwise. Chances of locating the rest of his other friends are very slim. Yaya had explained herself earlier that she also didn't know what caused herself to be sent here in the Taishō Era of their world. That very little information alone didn't spark a clue inside BoBoiBoy's head as he knew he wouldn't be receiving answers soon as he and Yaya are starting from scratch to how they both got themselves here.

"Let's just hope so, Tanjiro. I don't want to alarm you but I think our situation of being here is getting a bit complicated than I thought. I just hope that I'll find an answer to this soon."

"I have faith in you, BoBoiBoy. I do. If there's anything you are having trouble with, don't hesitate to come to me and I'll try my best to help" It's only a simple sentence yet it made BoBoiBoy smile brightly. To know someone who highly believes in him is his epitome of hope and belief.

"Thanks Tanjiro." He then looked at the other Kamado sibling, who stares at him with her pink eyes the whole time.

"Hey Nezuko." He went over to her and pats her on the head. "How are you doing? Are you okay after... what happened earlier?" BoBoiBoy flinched at the last part. He even heard Tanjiro grumble something angrily after seeing Nezuko stabbed multiple times.

"Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!" She responded with incoherent sounds but both boys were able to understand judging from her facial expression. Her eyes beamed at the white-streaked boy and she ruffled his hair playfully.

"Easy, Nezuko!" He laughed as she continued playing around with his hair. Tanjiro still had his smile as he watched them going at it like they were actual siblings. It reminded him of his late siblings just from this scene alone. His smile slowly faltered as his memories of his family centered in his head. It wasn't easy letting go of his family's death but he had to stand up for Nezuko and protect her like a big brother should.

After they were done with their little fun, BoBoiBoy sat beside Tanjiro and gave him a pondering look. "Is there something on your mind?"

Tanjiro was in deep thinking that he didn't hear him nor see him.

"Tanjiro?" He waved at his face. "Tanjiro!"

"Huh?" He snapped back to reality and turned to look at him.

"Are you alright? You spaced out and worried me."

Tanjiro grinned. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking about some things."

Thanks to BoBoiBoy's sense of hearing, he noticed his sad tone when he said it. "If you don't mind me asking, is it something about your... family?"

"How did you...?" Tanjiro acted out of surprise.

"Hey, my sense of hearing, remember?" He gestured to his ear with his finger and told him. "If you don't wanna talk about it, I understand."

Tanjiro said nothing in return but decided to anyways. "Yeah. I was thinking about my family. I know it had been two years since they were gone but I still missed them. I'm sure Nezuko misses them even if she's under a hypnotic spell. Seeing you two play around with each other just makes me feel both happy and sad somehow."

The other boy shares his feeling of empathy to his family and to his own. It's still painful to know Tanjiro that he couldn't fathom the thought of losing his family too soon than he expected. With his surviving sister that became a demon, he had no one but him and his sister to be called family again. That soon changed with BoBoiBoy around. Tanjiro would've given up hope and lose all motivation to train to become a Demon Slayer if it weren't for the white-streak haired boy by his side at all means.

"Wanna hear my story, Tanjiro?" BoBoiBoy figured telling him of his story would soothe his conflicting mental pain in his heart.

"Hm? Your story?" Tanjiro tilted his head. He didn't know why he would tell him this now. Perhaps seeing him in this state prompted BoBoiBoy to expand more of his private life to him.

BoBoiBoy nodded.

"Sure." In his mind, it'll be a good opportunity to learn more about his origins better.

"It all started when I was still little. I remember when I used to play with my dad back home. We used to play pranks on **Tok Aba**, my grandfather, when I was still a little boy. My dad, well, he was the best dad I've ever known. When I was still 5-years-old, I drew silly little things on the walls of our house and my dad had found out about it. I was seriously thought he was going to scold me or ground me but instead, he just went along with it and joined me in my little adventure. It was very fun when my mom also found out and scolded us for making a mess around the house. Dad got an earful and I was grounded in my room for a week."

Hearing him doing mischievous acts made Tanjiro laugh and he continued.

"Then one day, when I was 10-years-old, he sent me to visit Tok Aba and told me to stay with him for a few weeks because he said he had some business to attend to and he might not get to spend enough time with me, not even my mom because she was busy with work. By the time I was 11, I went back home to the city to live with my parents again. Dad wasn't around but mom was still there. I asked her where he is but she didn't tell me. She then told me to start living with Tok Aba and let me attend school there because she thought I would be comfortable away from home and I would meet new friends. I still didn't understand why she let me stay at Rintis Island. I still didn't know until this day."

He sighed to let Tanjiro process his 1/4 of the story in his head. There were some things unclear to him, such as the basic terms like _school_. He wouldn't blame him for not knowing the meaning of it since he lived in the mountains his whole life. After explaining it to him quickly, BoBoiBoy continued on.

"Too many things happened when I first attended school. I met with my old friends again and made a rival named **Fang**. But as time went on, he and I were friends but he still think of me as a rival because of one goal he was always dreaming of getting. Do you wanna know what he dreams of getting?"

Tanjiro saw his playful grin. "What was it?"

He answered.

"Popularity."

The white-streak haired boy laughed while Tanjiro just chuckled, not entirely sure why he wanted it as an aspiration but he was BoBoiBoy's friend.

"But besides that, there were just too many threats that happened even after I first got to school. Seems that my presence around really attracted some bad guys like **Ejo Jo**. Ejo Jo is an alien from **Ata Ta Tiga**, a planet which aliens where **Adu Du**, who is also an alien and my former and current enemy, lived."

He paused to give Tanjiro a moment to sink this one in. Something about mention of another planet made Tanjiro wonder how much BoBoiBoy has seen throughout his modern time and what other possibilities there was out there in traveling to different planets. Tanjiro sometimes envied BoBoiBoy for being ahead of his time.

Nezuko crawled out of her box and plop herself down to the bed where she can listen to his story better.

"Trust me Tanjiro. In my time, it was a bundle of events that nearly costed my whole world if it weren't for me or my friends." BoBoiBoy said.

"But to start off in a young age, you are setting yourself in most danger! Especially your friends!" Tanjiro almost exclaimed.

"I know, Tanjiro. It's called being responsible. No one can tell us otherwise, but even if they did, we still do what is best for everyone's safety. What matters is making what is right for saving innocent lives."

_'Wow... you weighed so much responsibility on your shoulders. I hope you know what you did is best, BoBoiBoy.'_ Tanjiro thought.

"Now where was I?"

"You said something about the _Ata-whatchamacallit_ planet?" Tanjiro stumbled on the wording. BoBoiBoy snickered at his attempt to say the word.

"Ahh right! And it's _Ata Ta Tiga_." He said it slower to emphasize the pronunciation. "Like I said, with me being there, I'm exposing my friends and everyone in real danger. Ejo Jo was a tough enemy to deal with, even in my secondary tier forms aren't a match to him. We did beat him with some help but he retreated before we can finish him. Many months passed and we were on vacation after school ended. I did most of my time fighting crime around the city that I don't find the time to take a break and let stress overtake me. Because of this, it naturally awaken the hidden element I never knew I had inside me, BoBoiBoy Fire."

"I thought you didn't have that element when you said you didn't?" Tanjiro called something out.

"I did. The form is like a second generation element. So it didn't count as new to me when I already got it here." He explained. "My Water form also counted as second generation."

"I see." Tanjiro mused. He could learn so much from BoBoiBoy of his forms.

"After I got my forms, we met Fang's older brother named **Kaizo**. First, he stole me and my friends' power watches, including Fang's because he said we were deemed unworthy of how we used our powers. We fought him and beat him by technicality and gave us back our watches and offered us a chance to join his rebellion team to rescue Power Spheras. I declined his offer because his methods were wrong but eventually, lots of stuff happened and that's how me and my friends became a squad to search and rescue Power Spheras as well as saving the galaxy from harm."

Tanjiro blinked before asking. "What's a... Power Sphera? Is it some sort of entity or something?"

BoBoiBoy sighed. "Since you heard from me and Mr. Urokodaki, I'll explain it to you. **Power Spheras** are high-tech robots carrying powers unimaginable. They are countless of Power Spheras spread throughout the whole galaxy. Tanjiro, believe it or not, these robots are our protectors."

"S-Seriously?" Tanjiro is in shock. "I-I'm not fond of the technology you said but... to think something like a little sphere are our protectors around the whole universe? Even a galaxy?"

"Yeah." He replied casually. "As you can see here, I got my powers from a Power Sphera named **Ochobot**." He lifted his arm and showed Tanjiro his power watch from his wrist.

"That's... an odd device. What does it do?" Tanjiro asked and he became intrigued. BoBoiBoy quickly showed him the functions of the watch to him and explained it to him while keeping it in simple terms for Tanjiro to understand. Technology is still a new concept to a country boy like him.

"I feel like my head is gonna split." He felt his head getting light-headed from his story. It was a lot to process just from hearing it all in one go.

"In conclusion, my story entirely connects to what you've heard from me and Mr. Urokodaki when I explained my situation to him." He breathed in and out. It's probably the longest he has ever talked before.

"Thanks for listening, Tanjiro." He shot Tanjiro a pleasant grin.

"You're welcome." Tanjiro mirrored. "It's nice to know more about you. I wish my family was here to get to know you too."

"I'd like to get to know them as well, Tanjiro. From the way you said about your siblings, they seem like fun people. Your mom must have been a really kind person like you. I do wish I would've meet them in person before all of this happened."

"You tell me. If I had known about demons back then, then none of this would've probably happened." Tanjiro clenched his hands into fists.

BoBoiBoy instantly calmed him down. "Tanjiro, even if you knew, the outcome would still be the same. I mean, everything happens for a reason."

Tanjiro stayed silent, not knowing what to respond from that. Heaving a sigh, he looked behind them and saw Nezuko sleeping soundly. It was a while after she heard of BoBoiBoy's explanation of Power Spheras until her eyes became heavy and sinks into her slumber.

The other boy turns to look at Nezuko, sleeping peacefully. "Look at her. She's sleeping again."

"Nezuko. I promise I'll turn you back into human no matter what. I will never leave you alone. Even if it takes months, years, or decades to find a cure for you, I'll be doing it all for you." Tanjiro vowed.

"We'll do whatever we can to ensure Nezuko returns into a human again, Tanjiro. Because someday, we'll be grown-ups. And after that, we'll be old people and eventually die. And the demon Nezuko would end up all alone." BoBoiBoy said.

"Yeah. You're right." Tanjiro said. "It'll be sad for Nezuko to be all alone. I will not let that happen. I will not."

"Hear that Nezuko?"

BoBoiBoy placed his hand on Nezuko's head and rubs it gently.

"Your big brothers will be here for you."

* * *

**Hi! I'm back with another chapter. It's my first to make a real dialogue-heavy chapter so I apologize if there is some parts that are way off. I did the best as I could to make it seem entertaining as possible.**

**And as always, thanks for reading and I'll see you all in the next.**

**~ b a i**


	28. Rehabilitation Training

The next day, Kyojuro Renjoku was done getting his own briefing for his mission elsewhere. Bowing to the master, he adjusted his sword, sliding it into his sword's sheathe holstered to his left waist and is about to head out when Shinobu halted him.

"Are you heading into battle?" She asked to the flamehead.

"Is that you, Kocho?" Kyojuro turns his head around to meet the Insect Pillar behind him. "We just got some new information about a demon and the Slayers who confronted him got taken out. We're losing rank and filers, too, now. We can't stand by and do nothing!"

"Could it be the Twelve Kizuki?" Shinobu asked with a questioning look on her round face.

"Most likely, yes. It might be a member of the Upper Ranks." Kyojuro answered with a guess.

"It sounds like a difficult mission, but as long as you're going, Rengoku, there's nothing to worry about." Shinobu may acted relieved on the outside, but actually worries for his safety on the inside.

It was Kyojuro's turn to ask now.

"Kocho, what are your plans taking in those axe-kicking and head-butting kids? You said you were going to add more Tsuguko even if you just got another one under your belt, but I'm sure that's not the reason."

"Don't worry, it's not as if I'll gobble them up, all right?" Shinobu answered sweetly.

"Well, of course you wouldn't!" Kyojuro ended off with a hearty laugh then walked away to his next mission. Shinobu watched him as he took his leave with the same exact face.

"Be careful."

* * *

"NOOOOO! I CAN'T POSSIBLY TAKE ANY MORE!" Zenitsu's screams and cries echoed inside the ward and can be heard outside.

"We go through this every single day!" Aoi scolds the blonde. "You're the most severely injured, Zenitsu! Take your medicine this second!"

Zenitsu slowly grabs his cup filled with medicine and hesitated as he stares at it with the same expression of nearly crying at it.

"Seriously!" Aoi takes her gaze away to look at Tanjiro. "Tanjiro, your medicine is right over there."

Kiyo gave him a cup with meds in. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Tanjiro accepts the kind gesture and grabs the cup. He drinks it in one chug, not bothered with the medicine's taste.

"HEY! TANJIRO'S MEDICINE GOES DOWN EASY, DOESN'T IT?! RIGHT?! IT'S DIFFERENT THAN MINE, ISN'T IT?!" Zenitsu blabbermouths. "I CALL FAVORITISM! I CALL FAVORITISM!"

'Huh. I feel bad for Inosuke there, having to listen enough of Zenitsu's shouting.' BoBoiBoy sweatdrops as he watched the scene unfold.

"Does this always happen with you?" Yaya giggled before handing him his medicine.

"To be honest, it just gets annoying but once you're around with him for too long, you'll learn to cope with his way of talking about things." BoBoiBoy said then took his medicine in one take and grimaced a little. "Ugh. This medicine is really good."

"Was that sarcasm?" Yaya smiled. "But medicine is medicine. You'll get used to the taste in no time. Besides, I'll be taking care of you for now."

BoBoiBoy looked to his right to prevent Yaya from seeing his blush. Yaya thought it was funny and sweet of how he is acting towards her. She can see how this really reminded her back when she was treating her little brother of his sickness. Yaya missed her little brother very much.

"Yaya, let's go. We still have more patients to tend." Aoi called out to the pink hijab girl.

"I'll be there, Aoi!" She stood up from her seat and went to the door. "We'll be back later, BoBoiBoy!"

As much as he doesn't want her to go yet, BoBoiBoy smiled for her. "Yeah. Oh, Yaya?"

"Hm?" She swifts her gaze at him.

"It's really nice seeing you again. After all this time." BoBoiBoy smiles. Yaya blushed before she and Aoi left.

"BoBoiBoy?" He heard Tanjiro calling for him. "How are things going between you and her? You guys look like you're having fun talking to each other." He teased.

The white-streaked hair boy almost lost it. "Tanjiro! Couldn't you pick this up at a better time?"

For the dark redhead, he bursted into laughter. "Relax! I'm just asking! So anyway, how was it?"

It took a minute for BoBoiBoy to steady his pace and relaxed back in his bed while staring at the ceiling above. "It was great. We still have a lot to catch up but it was fun while it lasted. It really relieves me to see that she's here and not elsewhere."

"You must really care for her a lot, BoBoiBoy." Tanjiro then smirked. "Could it be that you and Yaya are—"

Before he could cross the line, he cut him off with a glare. "Not. Another. Word. Tanjiro. I'm warning you."

They both had a face off with the one smirking and another glaring. Zenitsu was just spectating with a fearful expression of how slightly tense the room's atmosphere had become from BoBoiBoy's silent glare. Their stares broke off when they heard the door opened and multiple Demon Slayers entered inside.

"Well, you guys seem to be doing well!" They recognize the voice. They turned towards the Demon Slayers and was surprised to see the one in front.

"Murata!" The happily exclaimed to know he is still alive.

"Hey!" He waved to them and greeted. His ring and pinky finger were bandaged. Behind him were some Demon Slayers BoBoiBoy had saved back in the forest. Unlike Murata, they were seriously bandaged up only to their severe spots. Some of them were using clutches to walk and had casts on their arms.

There was someone among them that BoBoiBoy recognize. The rest are unknown to him or he just forgot.

"Ahh! Here you are!" She excitedly hopped to a seat and sat next to him. "Do you still remember me?"

"Uhmm.. You are..." BoBoiBoy tried to remember where he had seen her before. His eyes scanned for her face and her hair and finally, it clicked in his mind.

"You are... Ozaki, right?"

She beamed. "That's right! I'm happy you remembered!"

The other Demon Slayers gave their gifts as a way of giving him their gratitude for saving their skins back at the forest. The white-streaked hair boy was immensely grateful and thankful for the amount of gifts he was given. He mouthed all of them a _thank you_ before they left back to their beds except for the girl and Murata.

"Here's mine. I hope you'll like it." Ozaki handed him her gift for him to unwrap. He couldn't wait for this as he already unwrapped every gift he was given. Most contained some of their personal belongings and food. But when he opened her gift, he was blown by it.

"Whoa! This is... I... uhh... th-thanks!" He accepted it fully.

"I'll be going now. Enjoy your gift, BoBoiBoy!" She winked at him before going to the door and closing it on her way out. After she was gone, he was pretty sure he heard Zenitsu growling at him.

'W-Why is he growling at me?' BoBoiBoy nervously thought when he looked at the blonde Demon Slayer. He puffed out an angry smoke and turned his head elsewhere before mumbling something underneath his breath.

Thanks to his hearing, he can make out what he's saying.

_"Tch! Why is he hogging all the girls to himself?"_

At this point, he felt some feeling of regret and a little disgusted after listening to it. _'Really? That's what he thinks about the whole thing?'_

"Are you all right?" Tanjiro asked Murata.

"Well, I came this close to getting melted away by acid, but I made it thanks to BoBoiBoy." He turned to meet his eyes staring at him. "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem, Murata." BoBoiBoy waved and gave him a thumbs-up, his signature pose.

"Dang. Looks to me that you guys are pretty banged up last night." Murata commented.

"It looks like it's going to take some time." Tanjiro said.

"And Wild Boar Kid, in your case, was it the throat?" Murata looked at Inosuke when he felt something off about him. "What's the matter with him?"

He could just tell him that he almost died but chose not to tell him or BoBoiBoy would kill him for that. "He went through a lot, if you could please let him be..."

"But for this guy of all people to be so listless—"

"He's not listless, Murata."

A creeping shiver went up to Murata's spine from BoBoiBoy's firm voice. "Give him a break. He needs his rest."

"Uhh.. S-sure thing BoBoiBoy." Murata nervously laughed.

"Tanjiro! Who is that person?" Zenitsu asked and wondered who they were talking to.

"He's Murata. He fought with us on Mt. Natagumo." Tanjiro said.

"I'm Murata! Nice to meet you!" Murata introduced himself to the blonde and saw something about him that is unusual. "Hey, your arm..."

"I almost got turned into a spider, and my arms and legs are still short..."

"And that's why you need this medicine!" Aoi suddenly popped beside Zenitsu, startling both him and BoBoiBoy who held a shocked face.

_'When did they get here so quickly?!'_ He also saw Yaya approaching him and sat down on her seat beside his bed.

"I told you we'll be back." Yaya said with a grin. "We just took some supplies to the other patients while you guys are having a conversation."

Meanwhile, with Zenitsu and Aoi. "BUT IT TASTES SO GROSS! THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH GROSS A PERSON CAN TAKE!"

"Don't come crying to me if your arms don't go back to normal!"

"SO COLD! THAT'S SUCH A COLD THING TO SAY!"

"You don't know how good you have it! I mean, if you take this medicine and get lots of sunlight, there'll be no lasting effects!"

"I CAN'T DO IT!" Zenitsu then hops out of his bed then runs towards BoBoiBoy and his behind him.

"Wha—!? Zenitsu?" BoBoiBoy swerves his head to meet Zenitsu panicking.

"GROSS IS GROSS! NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT!" Zenitsu complained.

"Calm down! It's just medicine! The taste may be gross but you need to take it if you want your arms and legs to grow back to normal!" BoBoiBoy said in an attempt to calm down the rowdy boy.

"Looks like fun. Lucky you." Murata hung his head low with spiritual blue flames surrounding him.

"M-Murata?" Tanjiro nervously sweats seeing him like this.

"I was summoned to the Hashira Meeting to give my report on the Mt. Natagumo incident." Murata said in a terrified tone. "And it was like hell! Those Hashira are way too terrifying! All pissed about how the quality of the newer Slayers has gone downhill... Because there were some of us who didn't follow orders on Mt. Natagumo. And they were like, "**Who trained them?"**"

BoBoiBoy had dotted eyes, including Yaya, Tanjiro, and Zenitsu who listened to him.

"What good would it do to ask someone of my rank anyway? Hashira terrify me!"

Speaking of Hashira, Shinobu entered herself in, earning gasps from the boys. They thought she overheard Murata speaking about the Hashira's reputation of being horrifying to some Demon Slayers and she's going to berate him about him.

"Hello!" Shinobu's angelic voice reached Murata's ears, making him jump away from his seat.

"Hashira! Lady Kocho!" Murata exclaimed.

"Hello!"

"Oh hello! Goodbye!" He bowed and sprinted out of the room in fright.

"Oh my! Goodbye!" Shinobu then turns her head to Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy from behind. "How is your recovery coming along?"

"I think we're a lot better now." BoBoiBoy answered while Zenitsu lightly blushed at her.

"Then, let's have you start your **Rehabilitation Training**, shall we?" Shinobu told them.

"Rehabilitation Training?" Tanjiro repeated.

"Yes!" Shinobu clapped her hands.

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

It had been two weeks since the group were going to be rebuild their lost stamina for having bed-ridden in so long. The only ones who agreed to go do their Rehabilitation Training were Tanjiro and Inosuke. Zenitsu didn't feel like going to train with them since he is still thinking about something back at Mt. Natagumo while BoBoiBoy chose to remain in bed for giving his body more time to rest. The strainings the Elemental Split gave him still occur from time to time. It subsided after one week but BoBoiBoy still decided not to train with them yet and stayed to make sure the pain was completely gone.

_'Tanjiro and Inosuke were taken away by the Hashira, Lady Kocho, and started something called "Rehabilitation Training."'_ Zenitsu thought. _'Lady Shinobu's voice is totally unique. I don't think I've ever heard anything like it. It lacks regularity, and it scares me a little. But when she was treating the people who got turned into spiders, she sure seemed like a goddess. No wonder everyone ran to Lady Shinobu in tears. Not only that, but she's unbelievably cute! I bet she could make a living on her looks alone.'_

He put his mirror down after inspecting his hair if any of it falls down. With a sigh, he falls back down to his bed and stared at the ceiling above.

"BoBoiBoy? Why aren't you training with them?" He spoke while focusing his eyes above.

"Well, I kinda have strainings in my body lately so I didn't come with them." BoBoiBoy replied. Knowing that he sustained that much damage internally and having recovered for almost a week means he can't endanger more of his health than before.

"By the way, why aren't you training with them as well?"

He didn't receive an answer. He got was silence, making the atmosphere around them tense. Finally looking at his eyes, Zenitsu wasn't prepared to give him his answer.

"It's just... uhh... I'm still nervous."

"Nervous? How come?"

Zenitsu bit his lip. "That was really scary, you know? Back at Mt. Natagumo, I almost died from that weird spider. What if you weren't there and I had been killed from that spider?"

The other boy straighten himself in his position and sat on the edge of his bed.

_'Should I tell him now?'_

He thinks he must. Back when they were at the Tsuzumi Mansion, it was Zenitsu that confirmed the kill of the demon by himself and not him. By not telling him now would make him doubt himself and he wouldn't want that. Sighing, BoBoiBoy cleared his throat and retold the events that played out last month.

Sinking back to his bed, he let Zenitsu get his head clear it up of what he told him. Basically, he told him that he has been releasing his real potential while being unconscious. He told him that his subconscious had taken over his body to enable his combat prowess shown. He told him that Zenitsu is probably stronger than BoBoiBoy if he is well-polished in terms of strength and willpower, even if the former is highly doubting his ability of doing it.

"Are you all right?" BoBoiBoy's voice ringed him out of his train of thought. Zenitsu's yellow orbs transfixed to his hazelnut orbs.

"I don't know. Should I be alright after hearing all of that?" His voice was volumed down. "I keep thinking to myself that it was someone else that had done all this. I never ever consider the thought that it was me all along. Tell me, BoBoiBoy, how many times did I do that?"

He shook his head. "As far as I know, I seen you done it once back at the Tsuzumi Mansion. Perhaps you passed Final Selection because you were unconscious that time. That would've explained the lack of demons there."

Zenitsu widened his eyes. "I nearly wiped out every demon? Me? A coward who runs away at the sight of one?"

He nodded. "You may be a coward, but you're starting to be less like one when in battle. Like when I saw you handling the spider demon like slicing an apple. Now that was awesome!"

Zenitsu slowly crept up a smile, knowing someone really believes in his ability more than himself. "Thanks BoBoiBoy."

The rest of the morning was spent with them talking about recent events and some of their past reveals, mostly coming from BoBoiBoy. Zenitsu listened with every detail he had spoken from start to finish. He is well aware of sharing his story that he trusts Zenitsu well enough to let him know about it. It took a while and they both stayed silent having finished their conversation to what lasted like a few hours.

The blonde is a different story. He knew there is something unusual going on with BoBoiBoy when he first met him. The fact that he has been hiding his secret annoyed him, but it was understandingly acceptable. Now that it is all out of the blue, BoBoiBoy can rest easy that he can finally shared it with his friend. He felt like he owed him.

"That's awful." Zenitsu spoke up after hearing his story. "I mean, trapped in some timeline that you have no knowledge of? It's quite unbelievable and far-fetched."

"Like I said, I assumed that we might have been..." He looked at his blanket. "We might have been traveled back in time."

"What makes you think that's the answer you're looking for?" He asked.

"It is the closest I'm going to get! Even Yaya doesn't know too and I'm trying to find more leads but came up empty-handed! I'm so lost, Zenitsu! All of this doesn't make any sense!"

Zenitsu stared at him, this time with a gentle vibe. "I'm pretty sure that all in due time, you'll find what you're looking for. I don't know how I can help you with your situation but if you ever need to, you can count on me if you're ever stuck with anything."

To ever hear this from someone like Zenitsu, BoBoiBoy felt his face melted into a full blown smile. "Thank you so much, Zenitsu. You're a true friend."

And as if on cue, the door slammed open revealing Tanjiro and Inosuke looking like they were about to pass out from exhaustion.

"Welcome back, Tanjiro, Inosuke!" Zenitsu greeted them but they didn't say anything in return.

"How did it go today, guys?" BoBoiBoy asked. Yet again, no reply.

"What happened?" Zenitsu watched them tucking themselves in bed. "What's the matter? Hey..."

"Sorry..." Tanjiro's said in a tired tone.

"Don't mind us..." Inosuke responded in his raspy voice.

'W-Was it that bad?' BoBoiBoy had his lips almost quivering in anticipation for tomorrow.

"YOU GOTTA TELL ME ABOUT IT! BECAUSE I'LL BE JOINING YOU A LITTLE LATE STARTING TOMORROW! NOOOOO!" Zenitsu almost bawled.

"I don't like this." The other boy gulped.

**THE NEXT DAY**

"Scary! Scary! Scary! I don't wanna go!" Zenitsu followed the two boys that had their Rehabilitation Training yesterday. The other one finally made a decision to check out what's been happening to them both since his curiosity flew out the window.

It is also a good excuse to stretch his legs a bit for being tucked in bed for too long.

They've arrived at the dojo where they can have their training be held in. Aoi, Kanao, Yaya, and the young nurses are all present.

"All right, since you'll be joining us from today, BoBoiBoy and Zenitsu, I'll explain the process again now." Aoi then gives out the instructions.

"You'll start over there." She pointed at the young nurses. "Those girls will make your bodies limber again after having been bedridden for so long."

Inosuke was the first to volunteer to have his body stretched. He cried out in pain and tears escaped from his mask. They can hear the sounds of his bones making cracking noises and that sent them shivers up in their spines.

"Next, reflex training. These cups contain medicated water. The objective is to throw that medicated water onto each other, but if your opponent blocks your cup before you can pick it up, you can't move that cup."

Kanao sat on the end of a small table with multiple cups and Tanjiro sat at the opposite end.

"Now!".

Before Tanjiro can move, Kanao swifts in to grab her cup in a speed of light and splashed him on his face.

"Again!" Tanjiro braced for the signal to go.

"Now!"

He smirks as he had his hand on the cup. However, Kanao's immense reflexes blocked his hand with her hand and grabbed her cup, splashing him again.

"That's it!" Aoi then explained the last part. "Last up, full-body training. In simpler terms, you'll be playing tag. You'll be up against myself, Aoi, Kanao and Yaya over there."

Tanjiro and Inosuke groaned in pain and tiredness.

'If this is how it goes, I don't think I'm ready for this yet.' BoBoiBoy dreads the thought of getting his body bent by the young nurses or getting his face splashed in medicated water.

"Excuse me. May I ask you something?" Zenitsu raised his hand. His voice clearly devoid of all emotion.

"Is there something that's not clear to you?" Aoi asked.

"No, it's just..." Suddenly, he stood up. "Come on, Tanjiro, Inosuke."

"Huh?" "Not going." "Zenitsu, what are you do—"

"JUST SHUT UP AND COME WITH ME LIKE I SAID!" He roared, causing everyone except Kanao to react differently to his outburst.

"COME ON!" He dragged them by the hem of their shirt and pulled them. "COME ON, DAMMIT! YOU LOWLIFES! YOU DIRTBAGS!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!" "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

This left BoBoiBoy in a disturbed state. He watched as he takes them away from their sight and brings them elsewhere.

"Is he alright?" Yaya asked him.

"I... don't know." Is his only reply. The only choice left is to follow them and see what happens next.

As he got outside of the house, he listened to where he took them and followed the source of the sound. He turned to a corner and found them beside the dojo's exterior wall.

"SIT UP STRAIGHT! I SAID SIT UP STRAIGHT!" Zenitsu said like he's commanding them. "YOU MISERABLE BASTARDS!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Inosuke's reply was him getting a punch to the face and he spins to meet the wall, slamming his back.

"INOSUKE!" Tanjiro worries for the boar. Unknown to him, Zenitsu starts activating his Breathing Technique as smoke released from his mouth.

"What's going on here?!" BoBoiBoy ran over to them and squatted down to see if Inosuke was hurt.

Tanjiro glared at the blonde. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, ZENITSU?! TELL INOSUKE YOU'RE SORRY!"

BoBoiBoy tried taming the flailing boar with all his might. "Inosuke...! Calm down!"

"HUH?!" Zenitsu's eyes burst open. "YOU GUYS SAY YOU'RE SORRY! APOLOGIZE TO ME! HOW DARE YOU ACT LIKE YOU'D COME BACK FROM HELL WHEN YOU WERE IN HEAVEEEEEEEEN!"

_'W-What...?'_

"ALL YOU DID WAS FROLIC WITH GIRLS ALL DAY, SO WHY DID YOU LOOK SO HAGGARD?! GET DOWN ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES AND APOLOGIZE! COMMIT SEPPUKU!" He jumped and swings his arms around like a madman.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH A THING?!"

"SHUT UP, YOU GOODY-GOODY, TALKING FOREHEAD! JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN, GOT THAT?!" He grabbed Tanjiro's hair strands and starts pulling them. "YOU'RE ALLOWED TO TOUCH GIRLS! YOU GET TO HAVE YOUR BODIES MASSAGED! WHEN YOU PLAY THAT CUP GAME, YOU GET TO TOUCH THEIR HANDS! WHEN YOU PLAY TAG, YOU GET TO TOUCH THEIR WHOLE FREAKIN' BODIES!"

He spins his hair. "EACH GIRL HAS TWO BOOBS, ONE BEHIND AND TWO THIGHS! THEY SMELL SO NICE WHEN THEY PASS BY, AND IT'S MAD FUN JUST TO LOOK AT THEM!" He pulled it out.

"YAAAAAAAHHH! HEAVEN! SHEER HEAVEEEEEEEN!!!" He makes ridiculous movements in the air.

"CUT THE CRAP! YOU'RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE!" Inosuke screamed despite the _raspiness_ in his voice. "WHEN YOU LOSE TO SOMEONE SMALLER THAN YOU, IT DESTROYS YOUR SOUL!"

_'Is that true? Huh...'_ BoBoiBoy thought.

"OH, POOR YOU! INOSUKE, YOU'VE NEVER BEEN CHUMMY WITH A GIRL BEFORE, RIGHT?!" Zenitsu then mocked the boar. "RIGHT, YOU WERE RAISED IN THE MOUNTAINS! NO WONDER YOU'RE A LATE BLOOMER! AAAHHHH! I FEEL SO SORRY FOR YOU!"

***SNAP***

"HUUUUUH?! OH PLEASE, I'VE STOMPED ON FEMALE KIDS BEFORE!"

"THAT'S THE WORST THING YOU COULD DO! NOT GOOD, NO GOOD! THAT'S NOT GONNA GET YOU ANY GIRLS!"

"HUUUUUH! I CAN GET AS MANY GIRLS AS I WANT!"

Unbeknownst to the boys, the girls inside the dojo were able to listen to their conversation and some of them felt disgusted at Zenitsu's view towards girls.

"Oh my." Yaya chuckled nervously.

* * *

"Please train me well!" Zenitsu danced around like a ballerina and giggled. Obliging to his request, the young nurses had bent his back, stretch his legs in a splitting position and squeezing any parts of his arms and legs while Zenitsu giggled throughout the process.

"It's all good! All good!" Zenitsu felt like he's in a blissful moment of being tortured but enjoyed the company of the girls.

"That guy has what it takes." Inosuke said. "I'm always fighting back tears from the pain, but he's laughing."

BoBoiBoy eyed the procedure. Sweat started dripping down his forehead and soon spreads all over his face.

_'I'm not ready to die early! Nope! Not today!'_

"Not so fast, BoBoiBoy!" He heard Yaya, and what's worse, she has a sinister smile on her face.

"You're not going anywhere until you get your body all worked up again, am I right, girls?" She said to the young ones, who nodded eagerly for his turn.

"Y-Yaya... Maybe next time..." BoBoiBoy fails to make an excuse.

"Nice try." Yaya walked over and pulled him. She forced him to lay down on the mat.

"I'm gonna regret this..." BoBoiBoy gulps on what is going to come next.

"Don't worry. They'll make sure to make it as less painful as possible!" Yaya clapped her hands happily.

_'With that look and how it played out earlier?! That doesn't make me feel better in the slightest!'_

"Okay! Please give him your best, girls!"

The girls then excitedly piled themselves around the white-streaked hair boy, who in turn, has his whole expression morph into pure anguish.

"P-Please be gentle with me—AAAAAAAGGHHH!!"

* * *

The next stage is the reflex training.

"I shall take you on." Aoi will be Zenitsu's opponent.

"Begin!" Naho gave the signal. Aoi made the first gesture, although, Zenitsu reacted faster than her and blocked her hand from moving the cup. He grabbed his own but stopped an inch to her face and he grips her hand with his own.

"I would never splash tea on a girl." He said with sparkles around his head. Aoi left a disgusted face at his attempt of being a womanizer.

Finally, it was BoBoiBoy's turn. His face was all scrunched up from earlier.

_'My arms... My legs... My everything... hurt...'_

Yaya shot him a cheerful grin. "Are you ready?"

BoBoiBoy shakes his head, clearing up any thoughts and focused on the cups. "Yeah! Let's do this!"

"Begin!"

***Splash***

BoBoiBoy didn't see that coming as his face was all covered in water. He looked at Yaya, still keeping her smile on her face and didn't look like she was trying. For once, he felt happy that Yaya had beat him.

"Sorry. Looks like I was too quick for you." Yaya said.

"Next time will be different." I smirked at her.

Next up; the final stage.

"Now then, full-body training!" Aoi and Zenitsu prepped themselves for a game of tag.

"Begin!"

With the go signal unleashed, Zenitsu zoomed out of view, surprising Aoi. He dashed behind her and caught her in his arms from the side.

"I win!"

Aoi beats the ever living universe out of Zenitsu.

"I won the battle but lost the war!" He was covered in bruises.

_'Don't fret. It's just like a game of tag. What could go wrong from this?'_ He thought as he looked at Yaya in front of him. She still kept her smile and calm posture much like Kanao.

"Begin!" They heard Naho giving the signal.

BoBoiBoy tried to get a running head-start and sprinted to Yaya in full force. As anticipated, Yaya dodged from the side making him miss his hand in touching her arm. He used the momentum to twist his body's direction and tried again, only for him to miss again. He tried many trajectories in his limbs to gain more speed but Yaya had the upper hand. He's really surprised at her improvement from all these years from training. For being a Tsuguko, he didn't expect to have much great benefits. Yaya's speed greatly surpassed BoBoiBoy. He struggled trying to lay one finger on her. He spotted a weakness to her defense. With a yell, he outstretched his arm, hoping that it will reach to her.

It didn't come to fruition as she maneuvered herself easily out of the way and BoBoiBoy tripped himself down to the floorboards.

"Yikes!" Yaya hurriedly run to his side. "Are you okay?" She extended him a hand and he accepted it, pulling him up.

"I'm fine, and thanks. You're so fast, I can barely keep up with you." He praised her ability. Yaya lightly blushed.

"Well, I _am_ a Tsuguko." Yaya stepped out of the area to let someone who hadn't had their turn yet. BoBoiBoy mimicked and found himself standing beside her.

"I'M GONNA KICK SOME BUTT, TOO!" Inosuke shouted in excitement. He powered all of them with nothing but forceful strength against Aoi.

Tanjiro sighed. The fact that he couldn't win any one of them is embarrassing for him.

"Cheer up, Tanjiro." BoBoiBoy walked over to him. "I'm also losing as well. We both suck at this."

This earned him a laugh. "You're right! That means we'll have to train harder if we were to catch up with them in no time!"

"Well said, my friend!"

The young nurses looked at them with gleeful faces for seeing them so optimistic.

They proceeded the training as normal. When their turn got to Kanao, that's when things started to get serious for Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy. They can't seem to get past her, no matter how many times they tried every ounce of their strength. For BoBoiBoy, trying to beat Kanao is the same as trying to beat Yaya as well. Their reflexes surpassed them both.

Five days later, they continued on with their Rehabilitation Training. It was slightly easy getting pass Aoi, but it turned into hard mode when they are up against Yaya and Kanao. The boys ended up getting their faces splattered in liquid and planting themselves to the floor from full-body training. Giving the time they done this, Zenitsu and Inosuke both stopped training one day.

"Z-Zenitsu? Inosuke?" Tanjiro said as he saw them leaving. Not knowing why.

"Maybe they're still tired?" The other boy assumed.

With a questioning look, they both got themselves ready for another round of their training. Kanao and Yaya looked at each other, knowing what the outcome of this already.

"Thank you for a good work-out..."

They both walked elsewhere to clear their minds off from their training. BoBoiBoy, with sweat covering his whole face, is in deep thinking.

_'I understand that Yaya is trained by Lady Shinobu, but how is she able to withstand every one of my moves against her? She made it look like child's play, even Tanjiro had a hard time trying to catch her. This also leaves me thinking that I might've gone rusty or maybe they're just way faster than us both.'_

_'About Kanao... apart from Yaya, she sure is impressive with her reflexes. Her speed also matches Yaya's, and her eyes...'_

"Master BoBoiBoy?"

_'Her eyes... They're too different than any eyes I've seen.'_

"Master BoBoiBoy?"

_'They're just like... they...'_

"Um..."

A pull from his arm snapped him back to the present. BoBoiBoy blinked to see who touched his arm and sees Sumi and the rest of the young nurses.

"Master BoBoiBoy, are you all right?" She said with concern. "We've been calling to you over and over."

Feeling stupid for not hearing them, he turned to them. "Ahh! I'm sorry! I was thinking about things. What is it?"

The nurses fidget themselves until one of them handed him a clean towel. "Here's a towel for you."

"Oh! Thanks a bunch, you guys!" He happily took the towel and wiped off any sweat on his face. "You're all so kind!"

They radiated a beam of happiness from hearing him complimenting them.

"Um, Master BoBoiBoy, do you maintain the Total Concentration Breathing state around the clock?"

"Eh?" His eyes dotted like the rest of them.

"Morning, noon, and night. And all through the night while you're asleep. Do you use the Total Concentration Breathing Technique nonstop?"

BoBoiBoy stood in his place. "No. Not once. I never done that. Is something like that possible?"

Kiyo nodded. "Yes! We're told that being able to do that makes all the difference in the world!"

Now he is really shaking in his feet. "Just using that technique required a lot of effort, but to hear something like that exists and I have to do it around the clock?!"

"Some people have already mastered it." Naho said.

"All of the Hashira, Miss Kanao, and Miss Yaya!" Sumi said.

"Please work hard at it!" They said in unison.

"Ah, I see!" BoBoiBoy flashed them his smile. "I'll be sure to give it a try. Thanks girls!"

They squealed in delight. Afterwards, they left to find Tanjiro and leaving him in his spot.

"Around the clock, huh..." He muttered before walking back to his sleeping quarters.

"So that might've explained why I couldn't catch up to Yaya and Kanao. If that's the case, I gotta train harder than ever. I just hope Tanjiro gets the memo as well."

* * *

**Next chapter coming soon.**

**Thanks for reading. See you in the next one.**


	29. Elemental Training: Cyclone&Thunderstorm

As much as it comes to improvement, the white-streaked hair boy must do everything he can to succeed if he can meet the Tsuguko's level in no time. After relaying the information of the Total Concentration to Tanjiro, he was all dead set to achieving it as well. Following the next day after their training, they woke up feeling invigorated more than they should have.

It's determination that's doing this to someone.

"Isn't it about time you came to training, Inosuke?" Tanjiro asked the boar, who is laying in his stomach and thinking about something.

"Sulking and feeling sorry for yourself won't do you any good." He tried persuading him to come along. Again, the boar ignored him.

"Zenitsu, you should come, too!" He turns his attention to the blonde. He stood up from his bed and stared outside from his window with his hands on the side.

"Yes! For me, that was a good job!" Zenitsu said.

"So does that mean you'll agree to train with us again?" BoBoiBoy waited for an answer.

"Hahahaha!" Zenitsu laughed. "No."

"Eh?" BoBoiBoy frowned.

"Just tell them my injury's taken a turn for the worse!" Zenitsu gave them his excuse for not coming. "Hey, Kakushi lady over there! Would you like to have some tea with me?"

They watched him skipped out of the room with his hands still on his sides. After another failed attempt to get them to train with them, Tanjiro sighed as it is already the umpteenth time they've done this.

"Looks like it's just the two of us again." BoBoiBoy facepalmed at Zenitsu using the old fashioned injury card as an excuse to skip training.

Moving themselves outside, they decided training separately will give them more breathing room and a sense of vulnerability. It proved helpful and tactical last time and they would do it again for their sake of getting stronger.

BoBoiBoy knew what he had to do. He didn't knew about Tanjiro but he believes in his drive of improving himself. Providing himself with Urokodaki's teachings and little bits of Hang Kasa's training method, he'll start it off a bit slower.

_'To use Total Concentration Breathing, I'd have to inhale lots of oxygen into my lungs and unleash for a technique or use it as a temporary power boost to my whole body against a really powerful opponent. For doing it around morning, the afternoon, and at night-time, I don't know if I can do it.'_

Patiently, he closed his eyes and draw air into his mouth then breathing it out slowly.

_'W-Why is it so difficult all of a sudden...?'_

He continued doing his routine of breathing in and out. He kept doing it again.

"..."

And again.

"..."

And again.

"..."

And again.

"..."

And again.

"..."

And again.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

_'AHHH! I CAN'T DO IT!'_

He fell as his knees give in to its weight. His whole body felt like a dumbbell just happen to be dumped on him and his head was throbbing like crazy.

_'What's happening to me? I thought this would be easy! But it's way harder and more painful than I can imagine! My lungs, my ears, my eardrums! They hurt like hell! Don't tell me... I've gotten soft after being bedridden for so long?'_

At that moment, he experienced a sudden deep bass drop in his eardrums, causing temporary deafness for a slight second, and causing him to panic a lot and tears made its way to his eyes.

_'AAAAAAHHHHH! I THOUGHT MY EARDRUMS ARE GONNA BREAK! THAT SCARED THE HECK OUT OF ME!'_

He checked his ears to see if it was bleeding while still in a panicked state. For a second, he thought he was going to die from using the Breathing Technique the wrong way.

_'C-Calm down, BoBoiBoy... That was just a mistake. If you're having trouble, just remember the previous training regimen! Yeah! That'll help!'_

"Come on! I got this!" BoBoiBoy yelled with his hands clenched. He didn't know that he was being watched by the young nurses from the side of the mansion. They looked at the boys with happy expressions on their faces.

Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy both tried again. With little more care this time around.

_'Okay. Think it simple, BoBoiBoy. The way to breathe is from the lungs. If I don't get it down right, then my lungs are too weak to function. I gotta work with it! Time is of the essence! I can definitely do this! If Tanjiro can do it, then I can do it as well!'_

A newfound determination crept up his facial expression. He heard Tanjiro shouting something but he didn't bother to know what it is.

"Master Tanjiro and Master BoBoiBoy are working hard every day!" Kiyo said.

"Yes! Let's bring them some rice balls, okay?" Sumi suggested.

"Good idea! And also..." Naho told them her idea.

* * *

"Blow into these gourds?" The boys asked. The nurses supplied them with rice balls and freshly brewed tea.

"Yes! Whenever Lady Shinobu trained Lady Kanao and Lady Yaya, she often had them blow into gourds." Kiyo explained.

"Oh, really?" Tanjiro said and munched on his rice ball. "That's a neat training technique, huh? So, you make some kind of sound?"

"Oh no. They blew into it to make the gourd explode."

"Wow, really? I never knew it would be that simple..." BoBoiBoy said, until moments later...

_'E-Explode...?'_

"What? You mean this?" Tanjiro said in disbelief. He grabbed one gourd and tapped on it to see how durable it is. "Something this hard?"

"Yes!" Kiyo replied. "Not to mention, this is a special kind of gourd, so it's harder than normal ones."

It wasn't an exaggeration considering how strong Kanao and Yaya have gotten so for this extra info is a bewilderment to the boys.

"The gourds get bigger and bigger as you progress. The one that Lady Kanao and Lady Yaya can explode right now..."

Then out of nowhere, a gourd that is a size of a huge chair appeared. "...is this gourd."

"GIGANTIC!" They screamed. "WE'LL GIVE IT OUR ALL!"

With their break from training over, they resumed back to their original positions and looked even more determined than ever, trained their Total Concentration Breathing state. With their knowledge regarding their own breathing, the boys threw themselves back to their old training habits. Tanjiro redid his training method of Urokodaki's while BoBoiBoy instigated his old mentor's, Hang Kasa's, training method while at the same time following Urokodaki's method.

_'With Tok Kasa's teachings and Mr. Urokodaki's training methods, I'm doing those again while maintaining my Total Concentration Breathing State.'_ BoBoiBoy thought as he swung his bokken sword repeatedly. He was unaware that they were being watched by Shinobu from the porch while retaining her usual angelic smile on her face.

_'Since there is no mountains for me to climb down, I ran around the mansion's garden! Imagine the obstacles around me are the stand-ins for the trees on a mountain!'_

Tanjiro got to work on lifting on some rocks tied with rope behind him. BoBoiBoy raced on top of the mansion's fence like running on a marathon. They both did vice versa.

_'Hard work! All it takes to make good effort is hard work! Never stop doing it!'_

A day later, they got down training once again. And as expected, Zenitsu and Inosuke haven't made up their mind to come train with them, no matter how many times they urged them to go.

"They're not coming today, either?" Aoi sounded disappointed. Not towards the boys but to the ones who declined their proposition to join.

"I'm sorry. We'll bring them tomorrow. I'm sorry." Tanjiro bowed while BoBoiBoy stood behind him.

"No, you don't have to concern yourselves with those two anymore!" Aoi said.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" BoBoiBoy commented.

"It's their choice for not joining, BoBoiBoy. It doesn't concern me as well." She responded.

"I'll work hard." Tanjiro said, still bowing his head.

**10 Days Later**

Many days had passed since their recovery from their previous battle. Compared to Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy is getting progressively well in his training considering his body is more athletic and more agile than Tanjiro's. His stamina gradually grew and his lungs had gotten stronger, which means he can gain in more oxygen than before for his Breathing Techniques.

"98... 99... 100!"

He swung his last swing with his bokken on his hands. BoBoiBoy puffed out a breath and puts away the bokken. After putting it on the porch, he then thinks of taking it to the next level.

_'I'm thinking of trying to regain my other secondary tier forms again. I already gotten three of them but what about the two? I should start with getting Cyclone or Thunderstorm or maybe both if I'm at a hundred percent.'_

Looking around the backyard, BoBoiBoy chooses a more free open space to give a more stretching feeling and more leverage to his regimen. Seeing Tanjiro using a more direct approach to his training, BoBoiBoy decided to just take it slowly and effectively.

His head racked up to who he should acquire first. Thinking back to where he last battled with the Arrow Demon, he had almost transformed into Thunderstorm out of pure rage. Perhaps if he can do it again, he can finally get his secondary tier lightning element.

The only problem in doing so, he has to do it while being in an Elemental Split.

_'I remember Ochobot saying it to me once that in order to use my first tier elements to its utmost limits to gain their secondary tier forms, I have to be in my Elemental Split or I would risk straining my body again. Well, I don't want that to happen to me again. Last time didn't work out so well.'_

He measures his breathing to getting ready for his Breathing Technique. While in doing so, he didn't notice or didn't hear the sounds of the young nurses coming to check up on his progression. They usually sat at the porch or stayed on the side of the mansion's wall to not be detected by him or Tanjiro. While they grew more attached to the boys because of their kind influence, they let themselves open for their own entertainment of watching them train while going off-duty on their nursing routine.

"Master BoBoiBoy is really working hard every day, isn't he?" Kiyo said.

"Don't forget about Master Tanjiro! They're working to get even stronger!" Sumi said.

"Hey, what is he doing?" Naho asked while pointing at BoBoiBoy. She and the others stared intently at what he's about to do.

"**Elemental Breathing, Fifth Form, Penta Split!**"

With that, he jumped high in the air and dropped down on a circle he made himself. Out came five elements of himself. It's easy to identify who they are with their signature colors of their patient attires.

Meanwhile, the young nurses had an awestruck moment. Never in their whole lives they see just one person cloning themselves. It left them speechless.

"You guys know the drill now." Earth said like a commander-in-chief in front of them. "Fire, Water, change!"

With affirming nods, they subsequently transformed into their secondary tier forms with relative ease. Earth even changed himself into Quake to even out the odds, excluding two certain elements.

"What do you have us to do?" Lightning asked, slightly jealous of their new forms.

Quake smiled. "Just like last time, each of us, and by each I mean you and Wind, will be sparring against Blaze and Ice and we'll see what happens from there."

"Oh, I see..." Wind muttered. It didn't go quickly unnoticed by Quake.

"Hm? Is there something wrong, Wind?" Quake asked.

"Is that really it?"

He raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Wind clarified. "I mean, is that really the best solution for us? You know that didn't happen last time when we transformed. It happened with us because of our unstable emotions. Take Lightning for example."

"Huh? Why me?" Lightning pointed at himself.

"With his attitude, he can easily transform if he's angry enough to do it. But what does that make me? The only for me to transform is to make me very happy or if we completed our first tier elements." Wind almost choked in his words.

"Wind, I—"

"No! This isn't the only way! You think that if I spar with either of them is for me to change into like you guys? No! I don't want to be the only one feeling left out of the group! Not to mention, I barely did anything when it comes to battle! I'm more of a liability than any of you..."

They were stuck in a momentary shock for what he said. Blaze tried reassuring the young wind element but failed miserably. The young nurses tried to process what they heard yet it only brings them to more confusion than what it makes sense for them.

"Wind, please come here for a second." Quake's voice was gentle. Wind lifted up his head and with a shrug, walked to meet Quake. The latter placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't think that you're useless to us, Wind. In fact, we were happy for you being here with us. Your cheery and upbeat attitude is what makes us happy and laugh. Those moments we spent a long time ago? You really know how to crack someone a smile."

Wind looked at him with widen eyes. "Quake..."

Quake gave the blue elemental a grin. "Listen, you're very important to us. Without you with us, then we would've been as dull and not so carefree like Lightning here."

He laughed while Lightning yelled in the background, earning a chain reaction from the rest, including the young nurses.

"Thanks Quake!" Wind gave him a quick hug. Quake reciprocated back gently and lets him go to rejoin with the others.

"Now, let's get to work, people! We still have more training to do!"

Wind looked ready, but on the inside, he still had a shadow of a doubt.

Quake noticed it. "We'll figure something out, Wind. I promise."

That reassured Wind. "Thanks."

* * *

**2 Days Later**

Two days passed. The weather today is a bit cloudy as dark clouds blanketed the blue sky and the sun.

Wind and Lightning showed little progress for their elemental training, but they've amplified their powers so that way they will push their limits to hopefully boost and speed up their powers. Quake coached Blaze and Ice on how to they handle their opponents, mainly the other first tiers. Wind was up against Ice while Lightning was up against Blaze. Even in a tag-team, Blaze and Ice proved to be overwhelming for them.

"Ha... Ha..." Wind panted for air. "They're... so... tough...!"

Lightning gets to his feet and tried surprising attacking Blaze with his speed. Blaze blocked his kick with his arm and pushed him back to give them room. The lightning element dodged every hits from the fire element and countered his kick with a roundhouse kick, which Blaze saw that one coming. It was Lightning's for executing the move when Blaze had the upper hand of disarming his defenses and pummeled him with punches above and below his body. Blaze finished him off with a good punch to the face, sending Lightning flying towards the ground.

"Ugh... Dammit!" Lightning spits out the dirt that entered his mouth. "Why do you guys have to be in your secondary tier forms?! It's so unfair!"

Quake walked forward. "It's the way to guarantee that you'll strengthen yourselves by going up against a really strong opponent. It'll get you nowhere if you fight against Blaze in his first tier."

Lightning clicked his tongue. "It's also a bit unfair to Wind! Look at him! He also can get nowhere if he trains like that."

Wind heard of his rage-inducing comment about him and beamed him a smile. "Hehe... I'll be alright, Lightning. It's actually... fun."

With seeing his smile calms Lightning's nerves a little. On the inside, however, is his anger completely bottling up with how much they've been getting themselves handed on by the second generation elements.

_"Pfft... Pathetic."_

All eyes and ears turned to Blaze. He had a smug face.

"I'm really enjoying beating your ass like there is no tomorrow. There's nothing more fun than just hearing someone like you whining about how a sore pitiful loser you are!" Blaze laughed loudly.

"WHY YOU— COME'RE!" Lightning has his hands ready to attack Blaze. Quake intervened and holds him back from trying to lash out on Blaze.

"Lightning! Please calm down! Blaze!Apologize to Lightning this instant!" Quake's motherly manners took over.

"What's the matter tough guy? You can't touch me now that I'm stronger than you!" Blaze continued to mock Lightning. Anger clearly spelled on his face.

"Blaze!" Wind tried to interfere when Ice held up his arm, blocking him from moving. "Ice! What are you doing?!"

"Don't. He's trying to rile him up." Ice said.

Wind softens up but still displays worry for his elemental partner. "What? Why?"

Ice sighed. "This idiot had this marvelous idea in his head and told me about it." He whispered Blaze's plan into Wind's ear of what Blaze is doing to Lightning. Now understanding the idea, Wind reluctantly stepped back and let the scene unfold, overall, concerning Lightning's emotions.

"Why you! Once I get my hands on you, you're dead meat!" Lightning thrashed wildly onto Quake's arms. Blaze still held that smug smile on his face followed up by a mocking attitude.

"Gonna cry, tough guy? You know I'm the strongest here and you're not!"

"Blaze, this is your last chance to say your sorry! I mean it this time!" Quake desperately tried to repel the wild elemental's thrashing.

"Let go of me, Quake! I'll pound this bastard into the face of the earth!" Lightning yelled.

"Hah! Weak."

And at that moment, he stopped all motion. Quake tensed up as he lets go of him and backed away from his intimidating aura.

"**What did you say...?**" His voice was filled with venom.

"Huh? Are you deaf or something?" Blaze walked forward.

"**What. Did. You. Say?**" Each word spouts poison to any ears available. The dark clouds seem to be corresponding to Lightning's every word.

"Ice, this doesn't sound good! Maybe we should stop them from escalating things any further!" Wind felt the tension thickening and the obvious discomfort.

"No. It's a way to bring **him** out of him." Ice calmly said, not worrying for a tad second.

With every passing second feels like a ticking time bomb that's waiting to go off any second now. Not one word escape from anyone. Quake wanted to dismiss this situation, however, he finds himself unable to when Lightning and Blaze were in a middle of a heated moment. If he were to step in, it'll make matters even worse.

"Like I said; You. Are..."

Blaze then shouted in his face.

"**WEAK!**"

Then he punched him in the face.

That set the spark inside Lightning. His bottled-up rage flared to life. Every cloud in the sky brought lightning bolts, which are coloured red for a reason. The thunder shrieked intensely, sending multiple vibrations towards the ground. Red lightning sparks around him and he's shaking violently. Teeth gritting in anger and fists clenched that his knuckles turned white.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed followed by a lightning strike, piercing down from nowhere and enveloping Lightning whole. The others had to avert or cover their eyes from seeing the blinding light. Once the light died down, they turned back towards their fellow element, with a major difference in his looks.

No one can see the expression in his face as it was shadowed from his black bangs. The only difference is his patient uniform, completely doused in crimson red and black in different sides with red lightning patterns on part of his clothing. When he had opened his eyes, the once yellow colour was replaced with a murderous crimson red.

"**Thunderstorm...?**" Wind managed to breathe out a word, almost shaken up from the transformation and the lightning earlier.

Since they've created a commotion, everyone, literally everyone, from the Butterfly Mansion ran out the back porch and see what all the fuss was about. They also happen to see the young nurses huddled up against each other, obviously afraid of something

"What's going on out here?!" Aoi was the first to speak.

"Oh my! What's with all the noise out here?" Shinobu dropped her smile when she sees multiple BoBoiBoys like last time.

"BoBoiBoy! What happened?" Tanjiro wanted to search for an answer. Zenitsu hid behind Inosuke out of fear. Kanao simply gazed at the scene before her yet on the inside she's actually worried for what has happened here. The young nurses huddled up, utterly terrified for their lives.

As for Yaya, she seemed surprised and shocked than scared.

"I-Is that... Thunderstorm?" She mumbled.

Next thing they knew, Thunderstorm vanished from their sights. Various thunder noises zipped past their ears as he zapped his way around them. With him moving around too much completely disoriented their vision.

_'He's too fast! Faster than before!'_ Blaze thought with immense worry and sweat trickled down his head. He had pushed him too far, he's afraid that he'll be the first victim to be electrocuted by him.

His worst fear was confirmed when Thunderstorm zoomed past him and he's right behind his back. The moment he moved from his spot, red electricity shot up his entire body. Blaze's bloodcurdling screams spreads entirely around them.

"NOOOO! SOMEBODY STOP HIM!" Wind couldn't take it anymore and begged for someone to cease the fierce element.

"Who's the weakling now...?" Thunderstorm sadistically said as he watched Blaze still getting electrocuted. Nobody dared to come close to him, not even the Insect Hashira Shinobu, or Tanjiro.

Quake took this as an opportunity to sneak up behind Thunderstorm and gave him a chop in the neck, rendering him unconscious before he can even react and fell down, not before changing back into Lightning.

Blaze stopped his screaming when the electricity left him. He got down on one knee while desperately heaving for air and shaking with the leftover bolts of lightning that embedded him.

"Oh my god! Blaze!" Yaya rushed over to him and offered him her aid. The rest of the BoBoiBoys were left with themselves thinking how it would play out when they stopped Blaze from provoking Lightning like that.

Their training will be on hold after the whole ordeal has been discussed with. Shinobu warned them not to train in such dangerous ways they can do, making BoBoiBoy hung his head down in shame. It was partly his fault that he let it happen. Actually, it was mostly his fault for disturbing any other patients inside the mansion while they were trying to have their recovery.

The next day after Thunderstorm's entrance, it is now Wind's turn to have his next upgrade. Unfortunately, none of them have any idea on what to do. The last time when Wind turned into Cyclone was when he was overjoyed by eating Yaya's cookies _(with Adu Du and Probe adding the unstable emotion formula in the cookies)_

Right now, Wind is on the rooftop in a meditative stance, sitting down with his legs crossed and eyes closed. This was Quake's suggestion because the only thing he can come up for him is to be one closest to one's power. Wind didn't get the meaning but eventually with time, he got it.

Concentration clouded his mind as he let the full nature of the wind enter his head. The weather also proved to be useful and helpful with all the clouds blanketing the sky and wind picked up in multiple directions.

_'Become one with the wind...'_

To become one with the wind makes it challenging for anyone. For Wind, he is known to be a quick learner and is adapted to the high sky.

_'Become one with the sky.'_

Wind concentrates hardly. The breeze swifts passed him in every opportunity it shall get.

_'Three...'_

The wind element stood from his position, feet ready.

_'Two...'_

He puts one hand on the rooftop panel and readied his stance to ascend to the next level. A small blue gale appeared underneath him. He snapped his eyes wide open.

_'One!'_

With that, he jumped.

Soared high in the sky.

He can feel it.

The air.

The eagle that weaved pass him.

The sun that hit his face with its proud radiating beams, entangling him with a ray sense of hope.

Wind took a deep breath and prepares his descent down to the Butterfly Mansion.

"Is he...?" The other four elements watched their fellow elementalist fall down from the deep depths of the high atmosphere.

"He is. He's falling down." Quake couldn't help but to grin.

"But what if it doesn't work?" Thunderstorm expressed concern.

"If that happens, catch him if he fails so we'll try again some way or another." Quake answered. "But this time, there's no need for that anymore."

"What?" Thunderstorm held a shock face, followed by his other selves.

"Because now, here he comes!"

Little hints of confusion left their faces as they glance up once more to the falling elementalist. Wind descends like skydiving from an airplane with no parachute to decelerate and cushion his landing. He held a nervous yet excited face as the presence of the Butterfly Mansion entered his peripheral vision from the blocking clouds. A surrounding gale formed around him and mimicked his falling speed. From an angle, it had look like a tornado is about to appear at any minute.

"Aaaahhhhh!! He's gonna crash right above us!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Thunderstorm! Save him now!" Ice, having known to be the quietest and most reserved elementalist in the group, screamed for the lightning element to come rescue him.

Before Thunderstorm can do anything, Quake stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"Quake! What are you doing?!" Blaze practically screamed at Quake's face. "He's gonna die from that height! We have to catch him now!"

"I know!" Quake shuts him down. "If we interfere now, there won't be a chance like this again. So it had to be now than never. Do you understand?"

Blaze didn't look convinced by this but held back for a reason. "Dammit!"

The way down became increasingly clear that it's becoming more dangerous than they should've let on. Wind zoomed in their eyes and before he knew it, a loud crash was heard and dust flew everywhere, covering them. Just like yesterday, every inhabitants inside the Butterfly Mansion came out to see what's happening and was surprised immensely to what they are witnessing.

"***cough*cough*** WIND!" Both Thunderstorm and Blaze scurried to the crash site. Everyone from the inside had mixed expressions of fear, worry, anxious, and shock.

"QUAKE, YOU BASTARD! I SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO YOU!" Thunderstorm raged.

"Calm down, Thu—"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! HE GOT HURT BECAUSE YOU TOLD US TO STAY PUT AND LOOK WHERE IT GOT TO HIM! HE'S HURT!"

"Wait, where did he go?"

When the dust cleared up, Wind was nowhere to be seen from the small crater. Panic instantly washed over both the red elementalists and wandered to where the wind elementalist may have—

"Hey! Up here!"

A cheerful voice was heard. The second they turned their heads, the more surprising it gets. Quake just let out a smile as his hunch is correct.

What stood on top of the rooftop is a toothy grin they all come to know. His patient attire changed. Instead of the standard colour, his was dyed in sky blue with few yellow and white liners. Much like Thunderstorm, wind patterns were plastered at his sides.

"I did it..." He whispered until it raised in volume. "I did it. I did it! I DID IT!"

"I knew you could do it!" Quake had a proud smile at his smile. He jumped back down from the roof and looked at them happier than ever before.

"**Cyclone!**"

Blaze bomb-rushed into him with the tightest hug he can muster. Thunderstorm made sure not to let anyone see him as he let out a blissful sigh for seeing him being safe.

"Can someone tell me what's going on here?" Tanjiro spoke on behalf of everyone here who are just as confused as he is. Thankfully, Ice filled them all on in on what's been happening for the them. They did get the memo but only some people were basically mad at them for doing the same stunt they pulled off the other day.

"Move aside, Blaze!" Yaya cuts them out of his hug from the fire elementalist and checks up on the wind elementalist.

"Do you feel hurt anywhere? Any injuries? Any side effects? Anything?!" She shot him loads of questions regarding health matters.

"I'm okay!" Cyclone beamed her a smile. "In fact, I never felt better in my entire life!"

Yaya was relieved, and so did the others.

"Welcome back to the bandwagon, Cyclone." It was Thunderstorm that said it.

"Yeah! I'm glad I'm back!" Cyclone grabs his hand and played around, much to the other's annoyance but he didn't mind his company. It's his special day so he might as well make the best of it.

* * *

After a whole bunch of explaining, they all went back to their separate ways of doing what they do for the day. BoBoiBoy merged again and was examined by Yaya in a clinic inside the mansion. A simple check-up was proceeded and the results weren't fatal to his injuries, however, it did damage his limbs from all the excessive training he endured.

"Good news is that you appear to be stable enough to walk on your own two feet. Bad news is that your limbs had taken a turn for the worse and you're gonna have to hold off from training for a few days." Yaya handed him the news.

"Wait what?! But I thought—"

"Orders from Lady Shinobu." Yaya held up her palm in front of him as a gesture to stop him from saying too much. "As far as your training goes, it seems like you've done exponentially well to get to my level. But we'll see to that if we ever get a chance to spar. And not to mention, the reason is to why you're being suspended from training is because you caused a lot of damage to the backyard. As punishment from Lady Shinobu and I, we've come to an agreement that you'll be the one to fix what's been destroyed outside after your recovery is done. Is that clear?"

Hearing this, BoBoiBoy almost could not believe it.

_'Th-This reminds me way back when we were in 5th Grade! I guess being the class president has its on ways like being a moral compass.'_

"I said, is that clear, BoBoiBoy?" She said firmly.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" BoBoiBoy said.

"Good." She returned her sweet smile.

After a few minutes of Yaya organizing her things on the desk and BoBoiBoy lying on the bed, the latter sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. He affixed a look of guilt towards her.

"I'm sorry I worried you." BoBoiBoy softly said.

"Huh? How do you know?" Yaya tried not to act surprised.

"I can tell by your mutterings. You're obviously worried if I injured anything from the inside, right?"

"H-How did you know?"

He pointed at his ears. "I have a great sense of hearing."

She frowned. "You could've told me when I was taking care of you back at the ward. How long did you have it?"

"About two years ago. I got it from training with Mr. Urokodaki. It was really great to have this enhanced sense as it helped me a lot on my missions with Tanjiro. Wanna hear about it?"

"Oh really? Do tell." She took a seat that's right behind her and listened attentively.

**30 Minutes Later**

"You had quite an adventure, BoBoiBoy." Yaya smiled. "And... can I ask you something?"

"Yeah." BoBoiBoy shifts his seat. "What is it?"

"Why did you spare a demon?"

It was a simple question that required a complicated answer.

"Because... Because..."

It didn't take her a moment to realize that he looked sad while asking him that. Surely to herself, there was a reason with him letting one demon go.

"It's because... she deserved another chance to live as a human and not as a demon."

Fortunately to BoBoiBoy that it was Yaya he's talking to. If someone were to interrogate him instead of her, he'd be already been violating the Corps' rules. He can entrust this to her because he know that she can't snake this to the others, especially to the Wind Hashira. That's the last thing he will deal with if that time ever comes in the future.

"BoBoiBoy..." Yaya leaned in closer.

"Hm?" He mirrored.

***SLAP***

A surge of pain washed over his left cheek that made a red mark. BoBoiBoy held it and hissed before looking at Yaya with her furious eyes staring back at his'.

"WHY?! WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THOSE THINGS?!"

"D-Doing what?" BoBoiBoy asked in confusion and was caught off-guard from her angry outburst.

"Like sparing a demon's life is the worst decision you had ever done! How long will you keep doing this act of mercy towards anyone that had bloodlust for humans, BoBoiBoy?! The same can be said for the bad guys you spared back in our world!"

"Y-Yaya, this one is different! Different than the rest of the demons I've encountered!" He tried to reason with her.

"She may have been faking her act, BoBoiBoy! I know this because demons do nothing but lie and deceive you to find a way to save her own skin! I can't believe you would do such a thing! Remember, this isn't our world anymore! This isn't a world where aliens aren't going around killing people just because you said they were our friends before. No, BoBoiBoy! This is reality!"

"Listen to me! I can tell if she's lying or not using my sense of hearing! And so far of what she is acting towards me and how she speaks is all nothing but her real self! And I'm well-aware of the fact that I gave Adu Du and Probe a chance before! It's for them to redeem their wrong ways! Listen, I tried!"

"I... I..." This time, she had nothing to rebuttal and gave up there.

"I know it was risky, but I know this was the right thing. Look at it this way, she had plenty of opportunities to kill me if she wanted to. Like when I hugged the demon, she could've killed me right then and there, but she didn't. Knowing that means she couldn't bring herself to do it. I seen some demons done it yet I know when to strike if they deceive me with anything."

"You say that like it's so easy to tame demons." Yaya said.

"H-Hey! There were some times that I would be careless of my own choices of what I'll do with a demon!" BoBoiBoy rehashed on his last statement. "They were really hard to convince, yes. But once I had my sense of hearing enhanced, I can tell that much to the demons who are either lying or telling the truth. If I didn't have it back then while I was training, I'd be in big trouble."

"O-Okay..." She said, not knowing what to say at this point. Silence echoed inside the clinic once again. It was deafening in growing seconds. Either they were lost in thought with each other or staring off into space.

"I'm sorry."

His attention shifted back to her. "Huh?"

"I hit you."

"Oh! That's alright!"

"No! It isn't! I got so... angry and... frustrated. I didn't know what I was thinking! I should've known better than to hit you like that on purpose!"

"It's fine, Yaya!" He half yelled. She stopped talking and sat frozen in her seat.

"I get it. I acted like it was right for me and you thought it was so stupid for me to do. I understand why you should be angry at me. But one thing is for sure, is that this is what I am. I'm not a senseless guy who puts everyone in danger. I just want people to live better lives. That's why I gave them a second chance."

He paused to get his thoughts in order or maybe he is just done talking. Yaya just stared at him. A feeling of anger and guilt strangled inside her. She wanted to scream at him more, to open up his eyes to know that this isn't the same reality they grew up to know.

But there is something about him that is holding back her urge. His kindness. The one attribute that carried in his person. How can she stay mad at him because of his ways of helping people? Of course, some of his ways were... forgiving but it's the most sensible.

"I should head back to my room now. I'm sorry if I ruined your day. And thanks for the check-up." He stood up and went to the door. He paused for a bit before turning the doorknob and left the clinic.

Yaya felt like she drilled a hole into herself. Her earlier action and words must have upset him. She felt a pang of regret in her heart and looked at the door of where he had gone out.

As BoBoiBoy walked back in his own room, he reflected back to what she had said. What if his mercy towards his spared person will come back and bite him one day? What if Eiko was actually putting an act to persuade him to release her from being killed? What if being kind towards someone will be his downfall? What if—

"Stop!" He banged his head on the wall. He hoped no one was around to hear him.

"You're just overthinking things, BoBoiBoy." He muttered to himself. Without another word, he headed back to his ward. Fortunately, night-time had already fell.

He went to his bed and the moment he laid his head on the pillow, he slept like a log.

* * *

**Another delay like usual. Sorry for the long wait guys.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**See ya next chap!**


	30. Tsuguko, Yaya

Few days passed by rather quickly as the two boys absorbed themselves in their training. Tanjiro is still sticking to his methods of training while all in a while regaining back his lost strength and stamina from their previous mission.

BoBoiBoy, on the other hand, decided not to be brash about his methods and takes it a bit slower than usual. In his Penta Split, Second Tier forms enabled, they practiced non-stop with their breathing. Following the events that transpired a few days back, Cyclone and Thunderstorm are currently having a friendly spar against each other. They also made a vow not to do any catastrophical damage to the backyard anymore.

What happened last time had angered Shinobu.

"This feels familiar!" Thunderstorm dodged a kick by ducking his head down and followed up by a straight punch.

"I know, right?" Cyclone swerved his head at the side to avoid the incoming punch. He jumped away to gain distance between themselves.

"Remember that day when we were still little?" The Electrokinesis dragged his feet towards the idled Aerokinesis. With a swift leg sweep, he unsuccessfully hit Cyclone as he bounced out of the way in the last second.

"Uh-huh! I called you something that kinda made you go ape on me!" Cyclone laughed while in the air. The moment he landed, he changed the trajectory of his legs and rushed at the red thundered BoBoiBoy with a fist ready. Not quick to realize the sudden action, Thunderstorm crossed his arms to meet the other's fist colliding with his bare forearms. They bruised as Cyclone's punch packed quite nicely.

What ensued next are barrages of thrusting their fists and swinging their legs towards one another. The other element manipulators, having finished their training, watched from the sidelines. Blaze was cheering for his fellow troublemaker as he kept pummeling Thunderstorm with his agile movements. Ice quietly spectated the short tempered elementalist as he continued blocking Cyclone's attacks in rapid succession. Quake took note of their fighting styles with keen observation.

_'From what I see, Thunderstorm could barely keep up with his bouncing opponent. However, he is always one step ahead in terms of evading his attacks with quick speed. Their reflexes completely matched against each other.'_

_'But the purpose for this training is to help them reach further heights. Agility and speed are their two specialities that they are basically good at. Without those two, they won't be able to dodge any form of attack the opponent can throw at them. As so, it's quite also an advantage to outmatch your opponent using quick-based moves.'_

Neither of them let up with their attacks as they kept throwing them left and right. It proved futile when they continued to evade them. Seeing as they can't land a hit to each other, they decided to end it already.

"That's it! I give!" Cyclone held up his hands like he surrendered. "You definitely gotten faster than last time, Thunderstorm!"

"Last time?" Thunderstorm frowned. "I wasn't even trying last time! I bet I can beat you without breaking a sweat!"

"Yeah, whatever." He let out a big grin.

"You both did good." Quake ruffled Cyclone's hair while he pats Thunderstorm's shoulder. "Keep at it, you guys."

"Hehe! Thanks!" Cyclone beamed and lets out his tongue while smiling.

"Hmph... he only gotten lucky this time." Thunderstorm crossed his arms and strayed his head to the side. But on the inside, he appreciated the small gesture.

"Hey!" They heard Tanjiro with a towel on his head. "How goes your training?"

"We made good progress. We're just about to finish up and grab some lunch." Quake answered. "How about you?"

"Same here. Now that you mention it, I'm getting hungry. C'mon, let's grab some food!" Tanjiro stormed inside the mansion.

Quake gestured for the rest to merge back into BoBoiBoy, and so they did. Indeed he changed back into the original, he felt even more tired than usual.

"Phew... I gotta learn not to go overboard." BoBoiBoy stuffed his hands in his pockets and proceeded to go the designated place to eat. While in his thoughts, he recalled about the last conversation he had with Yaya the other day. Lately, that must've been the reason why she is avoiding him whenever she sees him around the mansion. Normally, such a thing would happen whenever there are some knots that need to be tied properly.

_'Maybe... All couldn't have happened if I hadn't mentioned her about sparing Eiko's life.'_ He regretted ever talking about that. It was too late to rewind back to their conversation now.

_'I'm sure she understands what I do. Any normal person couldn't do what they don't do, but I'm not normal, or am I even normal in the first place?'_

_'In fact, what is normal here?'_

He wanted an answer. As expected, nothing popped in his head, or no one around to answer it for him. He shook his head, dropped any thoughts he may had in his head and kept on walking.

* * *

During the night hours, BoBoiBoy sat up on top of the rooftop again, trying to perfect Total Concentration Breathing. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were all sound asleep back at the ward so he'll have no worries of anyone disturbing his meditation.

_'Ever since I started training, I already gained back most of my stamina. Then after that, my lungs had also gotten stronger. With that, I can run even further and not having to worry about stopping for a breather if I want to. And the best thing is, I finally gained back my lost Second Tier forms of Lightning and Wind. It's a huge sign that I'm making great progress than I ever thought.'_

_'Now my initial goal is to completely master Total Concentration, Constant. Yaya, Kanao, and all Hashiras had already mastered it. If they can do it, hell, I can do it too! As of now, I'll start breathing slowly while bringing in air into my fingertips.'_

In the midst of his meditation, Sakonji Urokodaki, Kazuhiro Hisashi, then finally Hang Kasa all appeared in his mind.

_'Tok Kasa... Mr. Urokodaki... Mr. Hisashi...'_

He imagined Kazuhiro yelling at him in his mind.

"How dare you... BREAK MY SWORD IN HALF!"

A visible sweat dropped on his face. 'I... I'm sorry about that.'

_'They're reforging my and Tanjiro's swords currently. I hope we won't disappoint them again next time we use the swords.'_

He realized he distracted himself from his meditating while thinking about the three men in his mind. Sweeping any unnecessary thoughts out of his head, he puts effort of closing his eyes, hands laid out in a meditative manner while sitting down in a cross.

After that, he breathed in.

Then breathed out.

Breathed in.

Breathed out.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...-hoo!~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Y...-..o!~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yo.-.oo!~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yoo-hoo!~"

He snaps his eyes wide open.

"Yes?!"

Feeling a presence near him, he turns his head slowly to see none other than the Insect Hashira leaning her head closer to his.

"I can see you're working very hard."

A heavy blush crept up to his face by how much she closed the distance between them.

"Even though your friends except Kamado went off somewhere..." Shinobu said, still keeping her face closer. BoBoiBoy was at a loss for words and feeling a bit mesmerized.

Thankfully, she moved herself away to allow him to get some space. His blush evaporated quickly, but his heart wasn't ready for that.

"Don't you feel lonely all by yourself?" Shinobu asked while she sits herself down right next to him.

"Nope! Once Tanjiro and I mastered the Total Concentration Breathing, we can also teach them, too!" His enthusiasm radiates off of him as he said it.

"You have a beautiful soul, don't you?" Shinobu casted an angelic smile to his way. Seeing it made BoBoiBoy tints his cheeks red. Just seeing something about her really makes him flustered.

Not trying to be embarrassed about it, he forced himself to face forward while Shinobu sat there with him.

"Um... Lady Shinobu? Why did you decided to bring us all here in the Butterfly Mansion?" He asked a question that has been bugging him.

"Well, Nezuko's existence has been officially acknowledged, and the four of you were injured so seriously." Shinobu answered. "And also, I'd like to entrust my dream to you."

"Dream?" BoBoiBoy repeated.

"Yes." She said. "My dream is that we can become friends with the demons. I'm quite sure you can accomplish that!"

Since he is almost quite certain about Shinobu's way of saying things, he has been secretly keeping tabs on her about her voice. While connecting this to the way she conversed with him or anyone she met, it was certain that this pattern continued to repeat until it led to this point. No longer trying to keep it a secret, BoBoiBoy turns his head towards and Shinobu mirrored, then asks.

"Are you angry?"

And just like that, her eyes shakes with low integrity and her smile disappeared.

"I'm sorry for not saying these days ago because I couldn't find a perfect time to say this to you." He paused.

"I've been listening to your voice and I'm sure that you're holding back the urge to shout or say anything rash or foul, even though you're always smiling."

It was like that. Shinobu, herself, was found out. She didn't know what to say about that except telling him what he needed to know about her.

"Yes... You're right. It might be true that I'm in a constant state of anger. Ever since my beloved big sister was slaughtered by a demon. Every time I see the tears of those who've lost their loved ones to a demon, every time I hear those cries of despair, the anger keeps building up inside me and continues to swell."

"Deep down in the innermost depths of my body, there's a revulsion that I can't fight. I'm sure the other Hashira feel something similar, as well. Well, this time, they saw Nezuko, who's never devoured a human, with their own eyes, and they've memorized her presence. Out of respect for the Master's wishes, I don't think anyone will raise a hand to her."

She explained, without a smile on her face, without a forceful tone on her voice. BoBoiBoy kept silent as he listened to her story.

"My big sister was a kind-hearted person like you and Kamado. She had sympathy for demons. Even when she was on the brink of death, she still felt pity for them. I couldn't bring myself to feel that way. How can you feel sorry for something that's killed humans? I've never heard of something so absurd. But if that was how my sister truly felt, then I must carry it on. If there's a way not to kill these pitiful demons, I have to keep trying to come up with it. Without ever extinguishing the smile that my sister said she loved..."

Within her mind, a memory of a 14-year-old young **Shinobu Kocho** cried on her big sister, **Kanae Kocho**, who laid in her arms as she is lying on the pool of her own blood and her blade snapped into pieces.

_"Sister!"_ Shinobu choked on her tears.

Kanae, presumably to have lost her voice to say her final words to Shinobu, passed away leaving tears in her eyes.

_"SISTER!"_ Shinobu cried.

"But now, I'm a bit exhausted. Demons do nothing but lie. Losing all reason out of self-preservation, they murder humans with their instincts laid totally bare." Shinobu said not before standing up.

"BoBoiBoy, please do all that you can. Along with Ka... Tanjiro, please find a way to protect Nezuko until the end. Knowing that you two are working so hard in my place reassures me to no end. I can rest easy now."

The night breeze swayed as soon as she said it. BoBoiBoy continued staring at her for a while after processing her story into his head. It would make sense for her to feel this way. Losing a loved one to a demon often makes a person undergo a different change that completely derailed them from having a normal and perfect life destiny had originally laid out for them. Once she had revealed everything to him, BoBoiBoy can finally see the glimpse of the **real Shinobu Kocho** just a few moments ago.

He wanted to tell her. Tell her about the other event that happened in Mt. Natagumo, wherein he had changed a certain demon's heart and had them turn over a new leaf. However, feeling the atmosphere slightly tense, he will have to wait until it is time to finally talk to her about it when knowing the right moment. He had committed a mistake with himself with Yaya. He will try again, this time, with someone who realized their ways.

"Your Total Concentration Breathing has come to a halt." Shinobu said as she reverted back to being herself again. BoBoiBoy was fascinated by her story, he forgot what he was doing.

Seeing him hesitate and stutter brought back her smile once again.

"And BoBoiBoy, one more thing." Shinobu held up her finger. "It's regarding the damage you dealt in the backyard. I expect you do a great job repairing it by the time your training is over. Understood?"

Despite the cheerful question, it didn't exactly reassured the other boy with his hand scratching the back of his head sheepishly and laughing a bit nervously. Finishing her business of checking up on him, Shinobu vanished instantly.

And now, it is just himself alone this time. He'll have to relay this to Tanjiro once he finishes what he needed to do here.

"I promise. I'll work very hard on it!"

Then he focused back to his meditation.

The next morning didn't go well with BoBoiBoy. The reason is that he stayed up all night trying to perfect his Total Concentration Breathing, he lost all of his sleep. Tired to even go on, BoBoiBoy decided to get a few hours rest.

Feeling sorry for him, Tanjiro supplied him any food he can find and put it on BoBoiBoy's tabletop and covered it up with plastic. If he ever missed out on breakfast, brunch, or lunch, that'll be his meal for the day. Like any other training day, Tanjiro trained again, Zenitsu tried to womanize Aoi which he failed miserably, and Inosuke still asleep in his own bed and not feeling motivated enough to start training.

Without any sort of noise, a glimpse of a pink hijab girl peered open the door carefully as to not cause any sound. She entered herself because she wanted to check up on him after neglecting him for a few days. The guilt still carried with her.

She sighed to herself for how insensitive she became towards him last time. As she took a seat beside him again, she couldn't help but to see his sleeping peaceful face. Any person outside of the walls here would be horrified to know they've been risking their lives to slay demons since that is their occupations. Imagine the despair spread among their faces if they ever come across such beings that ever slaughter countless humans. No one would be able to stay sane after so long.

But somehow, seeing his sleeping expression, totally lax, his body rigid, from all the intense training he endured. He wondered through the outside world while facing demons that are twice as terrifying than any nightmares anyone could have experienced. No matter how many horrid situations he faced, his purity or kindness still remained.

At least that's how she sees in him. He didn't hesitate to confront a demon, at least that's what he had said to her and not actually seen it in person. But knowing BoBoiBoy, the only one who she can call as a friend, he makes reckless decisions that are surely the most dangerous yet the most effective. Even if he is afraid, scared, terrified, he still took action. It worried her to the fact that he might've gotten any sort of trauma while encountering any demons his way. If there were, she'll be there to take care of him if... no... when he needs it.

She compared herself to BoBoiBoy to see if which one of them is the saner one here... or normal.

_'What even is normal nowadays...?'_

Drowning herself in her own thoughts, BoBoiBoy sluggishly stirs awake in his sleep. The bags in his eyes proved that he is sleep-deprived yet he can still manage to stay awake. His yawning snapped her out of her train of thought as she looked at the person she hadn't expecting to be awake.

"Y-Yaya? Is that you...?" He said with drowsiness seeping in his tone while rubbing one of his eyes. He sat up in his bed to get a good look around.

"Yeah, it's me, BoBoiBoy." She confirmed herself. "How are you feeling?"

Feeling surprised with the question, he answered. "I feel a little dizzy. I've been training every day to make sure I stay in top shape, but I'm not really keeping an eye on my health too much. Not to mention, I stayed up all night trying to master Total Concentration, Constant. So I didn't get enough sleep that night."

"That would explain you having to sleep the whole afternoon." Yaya mused.

"I-I slept through the whole afternoon?!" Now fully awake, he exclaimed. "What time is it?"

Yaya giggled. "Relax BoBoiBoy. It's only 1 in the afternoon so you didn't sleep that much."

"I see..." He relaxed back in his bed. He even sees the food covered in plastic laid out on the tabletop beside him.

"Is that for me?" BoBoiBoy pointed at the food.

"It would appear so." She answered.

"Did you make this for me?"

"Hehe. Of course! Tanjiro came up to me and asked me to make some food for you." Yaya answered.

"Tanjiro? I swear, that guy..." BoBoiBoy smiled. Grabbing the food and removing the plastic cover off of it, he chows down to his food immediately. He didn't realize he was that hungry. Yaya only watched him eat silently.

After a few minutes passed, he wondered how she's here specifically.

"Hey Yaya, can I ask you something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are you... avoiding me?"

That caused her to look at him nervously. "Uhh... well... I guess so."

"If it had something to do about last time we talked, then I'm sorry. I know it was a stupid thing for me to do but I'm taking responsibility for it."

Yaya slightly flailed her hands like a klutz. "N-N-No! In fact, it's my fault that I said something about it! I just... overreacted... that's all."

"Yaya, none of that was your fault." He frowned. "But I'm sure you understand why I did it, right? Like if you were in my place, wouldn't you be able to do it otherwise... or not?"

"I don't see a way there. If anything, I'm left with no choice but to choose anything that the situation calls for it. Whether to kill or give mercy." Yaya gazed downwards.

"I'm not really fond of killing. It just... scares me. The one time when I accidentally hurt a demon with a sword, that was when I felt horrified of my actions. I never felt anything like it compared to me who punches aliens and robots with gravity powers. It felt all too different."

"Different? I thought you already gotten your fear over demons?" BoBoiBoy asked. As much as he doesn't want to, he's interested to what she had experienced.

"Remember when I trained as Lady Shinobu's Tsuguko?" Yaya waited for his response, to which he responded with a nod.

"When I first started to train, I felt like I was letting Lady Shinobu down because of my fear for demons. Because of that fear, I find it very hard grip on my sword when I first saw one. I couldn't fly knowing I don't have Gravity powers anymore. I didn't know what to do because I was so weak, I couldn't defend myself properly."

"But didn't you say that you're motivated to train in becoming a Tsuguko?" BoBoiBoy interrupted, a little confused.

"I'm getting there." Yaya stops him. Lastly, she lets out a breath. "I think it's better if I tell you everything but it's a long story."

"I have time." He replied. "I actually wanna know the things that happened to you."

She sighed. She knew it's going to take a while to get her thoughts sorted out to make a story. Knowing BoBoiBoy, he tends to get a little impatient whenever someone tells him long stories. But since it's her, he'll listen attentively.

"It started with a test Lady Shinobu handed out to me with..."

* * *

_Hands on the handle of the sword, the pink hijab girl took off in a sprint to find her assigned target. Her objective is to find an item that Shinobu left out to find in the middle of thick forest._

_"Like a needle in a haystack." Yaya muttered. She looked every nook and cranny everywhere for the item._

_'I'd like to exercise your external senses if you have what it takes to become my Tsuguko, dear Yaya. Please don't fail to disappoint me now. If you can't find the item I laid out for you when night falls, then you have failed as my student and I'll no longer accept you as one.'_

_Shinobu's words boomed in her mind. Without ever letting up, Yaya tried to backtrack where she was at from the beginning. To start off, she chose another different route that goes off-track and trekked to a whole new territory for her. In fact, the whole forest around her are newer territory as she never had been here._

_Seconds turned into minutes._

_Minutes turned into hours._

_Hours turned into a full day._

_And still, she didn't turn up with anything._

_"Did I... fail again?" Yaya said with dread. The sun was beginning to set. And night time fully bloomed the sky._

_However, she discovered something she didn't even realized before. Shinobu had never specified what sort of item she was looking for. Perhaps, it was a way to project a sort of objective in her mind to keep her from distracted from her fear, or possibly anything that will cloud her mind. It may have been something, but it's the only thing she can ever think of right now._

_'She's trying to test my perception. Maybe this is the purpose of this training. But if there was an item around here, then she should have left some tracks around. She had to make things difficult for me to see properly in this thick forest.'_

_Feeling fatigue slowly consuming her body, she relied on her eyes to examine the way back home to the Butterfly Mansion. The moon barely illuminated the dimly lit forest with its dense trees blocking the light from penetrating._

_She felt as if she was being watched from the shadows. In the forest, the feeling she got is the sense of awareness. With her hands on the sword, she applied her stance, which involved putting her arms in front while making sure her pose stays in a defensive position._

_"Who's there?" She asked which she will soon regret afterwards. As the sounds of the rustling of the bushes gets louder, mysterious figures jumped out of their hiding spots and revealed themselves to the pink hijab girl._

_"Well, what do we have here?" A male demon narrowed his eyes. "Fresh new meat for dinner."_

_Yaya gulped and broke a sweat beside her face. She gripped the hands of her sword shakily._

_"Look! She's totally paralyzed in fear! This makes this easier!" Another said while licking his lips in hunger._

_"P-please, I don't want to hurt you." Yaya backed off as she said. This elicit laughs from the demons._

_"Hear that?! Looks like someone doesn't realize who they were up against!" The demon said._

_"Listen up here, brat!" One pointed their claws at her. "We're just gonna take nice and slow and rip your guts out! Don't worry. We'll make sure to make it as painless as possible."_

_Before she can even say anything, the demon lunged at her with his claws ready to tear her. Yaya miraculously evaded with enough speed to move away from her terrible fate. The demon behind her tried to pounce on her. Somehow, out of instinct, Yaya swung her sword quickly, completely slashing off the demon's arms._

_"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Yaya apologized, her caring nature slipped that makes it her downfall. She was about to go over to check when she felt herself getting grabbed from behind._

_"Nowhere to run now!" The demon laughed while pinning her. Yaya desperately attempted to pry out of the demon's iron grip._

_"You hacked off my arms..." To her horror, she witnessed the demon getting back up with his arms severed before they were regenerated back to normal, like it was never cut before._

_'They can... regenerate...?' She thought with a horrified expression._

_"Grrr! Hold her down, dammit!" The first demon ordered the second demon. Soon later, she was then got in a chokehold with no way out. The strength of it becomes too unbearable for her to breathe well. She dropped the sword she was holding on the entire time as the pressure keeps building up._

_"I'll tear you to shreds for what you did to me!" The first demon lunged at her with pure malicious intent of killing her._

_'Somebody... please... help... me...' Tears released from her eyes._

_As if her prayers had been answered, two other figures jumped in and swoop the demons away from Yaya. The latter coughed up and let air enter into her mouth as soon as she can get. As her coughing ceased, she glance up to meet her saviours._

_"Lady Shinobu... Kanao...?" She slowly said. Her windpipe almost got crushed by the demon's unbelievable strength._

_"Leave this to us, Yaya." Her unchanging sweet voice echoed in her ears. Knowing what they can do, Yaya stayed behind them._

_"..." Kanao held up her neutral face and looked at the demons with an unknown type of emotion._

_"Kill them!!" The demon shouted with malice._

_Shinobu turned to Yaya and gestured her with one finger. "Close your eyes, dear. I don't want to see you witness this, okay?"_

_That sounded kind of unnecessary to do, but she couldn't decline her order. She did as she was told and closed her eyes as tight as possible. While having them closed, she can't really see what was happening around her anymore. Instead, she relied on her ears of what is happening around her right now._

_First, there came the demons, screaming. She presumed that they were yelling in pain or enjoying the slaughter. Either way, they were shouting some unintelligible screams that don't made any sense to her._

_Second, the sounds of the blades sticking right through something that is made of mass. She can guess it was their swords that struck on their vital parts of the body._

_Third, the sounds of blood gushing out of something that struck them in the first place. She didn't want to imagine what was gushing out from but she can only take a wild guess and say it's from the chest area or the head. Both were horrifying for her imagination to run._

_And lastly, the sounds of bodies thump on the ground. There's no denying with the way it sounds. After the blood splatter from their bodies, there is no way to survive as something as that. Even through sheer willpower wouldn't be able to overcome as something fatal as that._

_"Alright, you can open them now."_

_It reassured her to know it was Shinobu that said it. Slowly opening her eyes like a garage door, she immediately wanted to close them right away. Right in front of her is a bloody massacre. Every limbs were torn out of their bodies like twigs. What's noticable about them is that their bodies begin to ashen into dust, leaving nothing but their trails and pools of blood lying around._

_Arriving back to the Butterfly Mansion, Yaya was treated by Aoi who keeps the whole mansion in check in case Shinobu and Kanao are out doing something. Shortly after being treated, she was sent immediately to her room._

_Sliding the Japanese themed door open, Yaya entered and was greeted by a sense of being home. The kind where she would constantly feel back in the original world, but this one hits different to her._

_She cleaned herself afterwards and laid rest to one of the chairs rested in the room._

_What happened earlier transpired in her head. The demon that held her and began choking her made her shiver. She was moments away of becoming their 'dinner' hadn't Shinobu and Kanao arrived right on time._

_'Is this... what it is? Fear?'_

_She didn't consider this thought back when she had her Gravity powers. This made her confident in her own skills, feeling nothing can hurt her. Reality struck her as she now knows that she no longer had her powers anymore. Feeling dreadful with the demons wandering around at night with nothing but her sword to defend herself with._

_A sound of a knock pulled her out of her deep pondering. The silhouette behind the sliding door is barely identifiable but Yaya knew who it is._

_"Yaya? It's me." Aoi's voice was behind it. "Do you mind if I come in?"_

_Yaya doesn't want to see someone right one but she would feel bad for declining her._

_"No, I don't mind. Please, come in." With that said, Aoi opened the door while holding what looks like food on a tray._

_"Lady Shinobu asked me to bring you some food since we thought you couldn't... you know." She didn't finish what she going to say, lest it would make the pink hijab girl uncomfortable. Yaya only giggled in response._

_"Thank you for the food, Aoi!" She flashed her a smile. She happily took it and began munching on what she first picked up._

_"I heard you failed again." Aoi said softly, something that made Yaya pause her eating and look at her with saddened eyes._

_"Yeah." She said. "But don't worry! I'm sure next time I'll get it done before going to Final Selection!"_

_Aoi smiled at her optimism. "Good luck with that, Yaya. I have full faith in you."_

_Yaya dropped her earlier attitude and looked at Aoi seriously._

_"Hey... Aoi?" Her voice was barely a whisper. The other girl leaned her head closer._

_"Am I... too incompetent?"_

_A question Aoi didn't expect had caught her off-guard._

_"Incompetent? What makes you say that?"_

_Yaya sighed. "It's just... I can't seem to meet Lady Shinobu's expectations. Whatever I do, I tend to mess up and fail lots of times. I can't even kill a single demon, let alone try to incapacitate one. I'm not even fit to be her Tsuguko!"_

_And with that, her dams cracked up and she couldn't resist it anymore. Right in front of Aoi, she sobbed deeply. Her teardrops dropped to the food she was eating. She felt pathetic to herself for being mentally and physically weak._

_A hand dropped on top of hers followed by a reassuring squeeze. She looked up, with tears blurring her vision, and see Aoi giving her a weak smile._

_"You're not alone, Yaya." Aoi said. "Before I met Lady Shinobu, I used to be like you as well. Demons. They terrify me and all I could do is run away. That's the only thing I am basically good at, honestly. I'm much worse than you, Yaya. Instead of giving up right there, yet, you still chose to keep going that nobody else wouldn't."_

_"Aoi..." Yaya muttered._

_"So that's why, I'm going to follow in her footsteps in becoming a doctor. Fighting people isn't suited for someone like me. I've decided it because there is not a lot of people who wanted to support Lady Shinobu. By becoming her apprentice, I'll help her in many ways I could."_

_Aoi held up Yaya's hands._

_"When we first found you, you reminded me so much of myself back then. Besides Kanao, you're the first to make me have some reassurance other than Lady Shinobu or anyone. I'm happy to have a friend like you."_

_Feeling a stir of emotions inside, Yaya felt, for the first time since she got here, welcomed. Talking with the girl in front of her made her think of **Ying**._

_**Ying**..._

_Her best friend..._

_"I... I don't know what to say." Yaya managed to squeak out her voice._

_"You don't have to." She said._

_"I'll be counting on you from now on, Yaya. Please do all you can to help Lady Shinobu. It makes me feel happy to know you'll be helping us. You're giving it your best shot."_

_Aoi affixed a soft look to Yaya. Something like Ying would do when she was feeling distressed or hurt. She felt a pang in her heart by thinking of her Chinese best friend but puts on a strong front to not let Aoi worry about her. She had enough of crying for one night._

_Afterwards, Aoi took the tray and proceeded to the door. She looked back at Yaya once more before opening the sliding door and excused herself out, leaving her to her own devices once again._

_Aoi's words rang in her ears. She knew what's had happened with her. Her parents were killed by demons. She had nothing to do about it because of how scary the demons can be. Not when Shinobu brought her in to the Butterfly Mansion and started taking care of her like she is her own daughter. Same thing goes with Kanao, who had suffered a tragic past. Without Shinobu, they wouldn't have survived what was coming for them out in this cruel world._

_Just like Yaya should've been hadn't Shinobu discovered her._

_Yaya had enough. She's tired for being too weak. This time, with a burning passion blazing in her, she'll protect those who cared for her, and for those she cared for. Starting today and tomorrow._

_She'll grow enough to become independent and become strong._

* * *

"I just had to do what I had to do. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have become who I am today. Now because of it, I've grown to not become afraid of demons and take a stand. And at that point, Lady Shinobu had acknowledged my potential and offered me to be her Tsuguko. And further on, you already know the rest from what I told you days ago."

She ended with a sigh. It took longer than it should've as the clock turned faster than they expected. Time advanced when you're idling for too long. The same cannot be said when you're doing any recreational activity.

"Wow..."

He didn't know what to say about it. Yaya, on the other hand, had a different reaction.

"Really?! I just told you what I've experienced and all you can say for yourself is _wow?!_"

The boy broke into a huge smile and laughed. The girl soon dropped her frown and slowly mirrored his expression.

"Sorry for ruining the mood." He said in between laughs.

"You're an idiot!" She said playfully, seemingly forgetting about the somber atmosphere that had loomed above them.

"I honestly don't know what to react from that, Yaya." He finally said, now looking her straight in the eyes. "But I can say is that I really admire your resolve about yourself. The same thing also happened to me while I was training these last few years."

"That's true. You did say that to me before." She broke her gaze to him then looked out the window.

"Now I'm wondering what will happen to us if this keeps going."

He tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

She stared outside. "It's kinda strange that a phenomenon like us getting trapped in an era like this would happen. Out of one in a million chances of that happening, I can hardly believe it. But then again, we live in a world where Power Spheras with unspeakable powers exists and aliens that come and wreck other planets."

"It's a crazy life we live in." He grinned. "But all in all, it's quite fun, right?"

"Fun? You say that just because you're easily excited by all the little things in life, aren't you?" She smirked.

"Oh, maybe not so fun when we're in a world full of demons, but still. Fun!"

"That's besides the point! But I guess that's also true."

They spent another hour talking like they haven't met for a long time now. To them, it felt really refreshing to talk with one another instead of their other friends in the Butterfly Mansion. In this world, all they need is to rely on each other if they want to find a way back home, if such a thing like that is possible for them both.

The day passed like no other days, leaving them feeling contented with one another.

To her, talking with BoBoiBoy is more than enough as a gift for her belated birthday.


	31. Tsuguko, Kanao Tsuyuri

The next morning, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy resumed their training once again to master their Total Concentration, Constant. This repeated pattern became a daily routine for them.

BoBoiBoy continued meditating on top of the rooftop once again without his top uniform on. Since the day is flaring humid in this current season, he can't sweat enough with a shirt on.

With carpet beaters on Tanjiro's arms, he requested the nurses' help.

"Naho! Kiyo! Sumi!" The mentioned trio turned to see Tanjiro holding the carpet beaters on his arms.

"I'd like you to help me train. If I stop doing Total Concentration Breathing while I'm asleep, can you clobber me with these carpet beaters?" Tanjiro asked.

The young nurses were a bit reluctant to accept. They didn't want to hurt him for the purpose of him training.

"Please help me!"

Once he bowed to them, they were surprised by his passion and agreed to help him.

"Very well!" They said simultaneously.

"Thank you!" Tanjiro smiled.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, BoBoiBoy heard about the part where they will clobber him with the carpet beaters as part of his training and he sweatdropped from that. After he had relay Shinobu's story to Tanjiro, he is already dead set in mastering it quickly even doing so far as to do it while sleeping.

_'I guess it's a good idea. But at the same time, maybe not.'_ He thought as he recalled doing the same as well. The outcome didn't planned really well for him.

_'Other than that, I need to find a way to master my Total Concentration, Constant right away. It'll be faster if I use my Triple or Penta Split while sleeping...'_

As soon as he thought if that, he had a breakthrough.

_'Wait! That's it!'_ He cheered mentally. It would cost him his stamina but it would worthwhile. He waited until tonight to get down with his new method.

* * *

It's as he planned. Earth, Wind, and Lightning were lying down in their separate beds in their ward including Tanjiro. Each are focusing on with their breathing in full concentration. So far, it's been effective for the three BoBoiBoys and Tanjiro. They're doing it all they can to fully master Total Concentration, Constant.

Naho, Kiyo, and Sumi were keeping their eye on them if any of them started to doze off and put to slumber.

"It's all good, right?" Naho whispered.

"They're doing a great job!" Kiyo cheered a bit quietly.

"Yes!" Sumi said.

All goes well for the boys, until Tanjiro and Wind had dozed off and begins sleeping. This prompted them to hit their carpet beaters to their targets.

"AAAAAAACCCKKKKK!" They gasped out in pain.

'So much for that...' Lightning thought before focusing back once more.

"Spinless fool..." Tanjiro referred to himself. "Please let me try again!"

"I'll do better next time!" Wind declared, looking fired up than before.

"Okay!" The nurses complied.

The commotion they're making had woken up Zenitsu while Inosuke basically ignore what's happening and continued to sleep.

With that said, both of them gone back to their training. It wasn't a full minute when Lightning began to snore along with Tanjiro. Again, the nurses beat them with the carpet beaters. It earned them screams of pain.

"One more time, please!" Tanjiro pleaded.

"Dammit!" Lightning said with an annoyed face.

* * *

"Just you two again?" Aoi said slightly disappointed.

"I'm sorry!" Tanjiro bowed his head. "I did ask them to come, but..."

She crossed her arms and looked away. "Well, it doesn't matter to me."

Yaya brought her hands behind her back and smiled at Aoi. "Give them another chance, Aoi. They'll bound to come back sooner or later."

"Hmph." She huffed.

"I'll give them another nudge later." Tanjiro said feeling a little distraught.

"We'll just keep trying, I guess. Better than just making them feel discouraged for not training with us." BoBoiBoy voiced out.

Their day started by doing more vigorous training. Tanjiro climbed up on a rope attached to the ceiling without using his legs but his hands only. Earth is doing push-ups with Kiyo on top of him for leverage. The other girls were cheering for them nonstop for motivation. Wind is on the middle of the area, resuming his meditative stance, while Lightning had a sparring match with Tanjiro

_'Ever since days had passed, I've maintained Total Concentration Breathing for almost around the clock. The problem is that I can't sustain it long enough and all day unless I pumped myself up.'_

"497! 498! 499! 500! 501!" Earth huffed out as he kept doing more push-ups. His aim is to do one thousand.

_'As long as I keep doing the Triple Split, while maintaining my Total Concentration Breathing, it'll give me the boost I needed and speed up the progress!'_

Wind breathes in and out. A small gale summoned beneath him and encircled him.

Lightning had undertook a different fighting style against the dark redhead, namely kickboxing. Both are on equal terms with neither gaining an upper hand at their spar. It is a good routine as it builds up their stamina and their endurance stats.

Until it is time their results of their training will be tested when they will be going up against the Tsugukos once again. Tanjiro and Kanao stood across from one another for another game of tag.

They started off with Tanjiro running after her with his arm outstretched. Kanao is still handling him although she had to use effort to dodge any of his hands from touching her. She was surprised that he is able to close-line her. Tanjiro let out a yell as he almost caught her with his hand.

"You can do it!" The nurses yelled like cheerleaders.

"Whoa! He is able to keep up with her! He'll catch up with her in no time!" BoBoiBoy said, feeling excited for Tanjiro's speed to keep up with Kanao.

"I like to see you try when it's our turn next, BoBoiBoy." Yaya sent a wink his way. The boy was flustered at the sudden gesture and looked elsewhere.

_'W-What was that about...?'_

Tanjiro almost had Kanao not by a longshot. With one big yell, he tried to grab one of her hands. However, she pulled her hand away just as he was about to grab it. Missing his target, the momentum his body creates made him fly out of the area and sprawled on the floor.

Kanao looks at her hand. She was inches away from being grabbed. If this keeps up, she'll be in trouble when Tanjiro can finally surpass her.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!" Tanjiro squirmed. BoBoiBoy rushed over and extends him a hand to help him up.

"Are you all right?" BoBoiBoy asks. Tanjiro nodded.

"I almost had her, BoBoiBoy! Did you see that?" Tanjiro exclaimed. Not from anger but eagerness.

"Yeah, you did. That was almost close."

Yaya's fake cough brought the boy's attention back to her. "Our turn now!"

Once they arranged themselves in the area, BoBoiBoy readied up for a long session of playing tag. Yaya smirked, knowing this would end like the same; unless this is the day he will come out on top.

The Go signal was unleashed. With one swift movement, BoBoiBoy made a blasting headstart towards the pink Demon Slayer. The latter easily read her opponent's blind move and dodged easily. He maneuvered his arms and his hands open wide to grab one of her arms. Yaya gasped as she almost got touched by jumping away. BoBoiBoy grunted when he fell down on the floor and got back up instantly. Soon, he was chasing her around like a game of cat-and-mouse with the cat being reckless and the mouse being shifty and elusive.

"Go BoBoiBoy! You got this!" Tanjiro cheered from the side, along with the rest of the young nurses mimicking the same.

_'There!'_ Given the distance, he bounced towards her. He felt a sense of triumph finally thinking he had her.

How wrong he was.

Yaya anticipated he might jump away his position given how they were placed. With that in mind, she ducked, knowing BoBoiBoy would tackle her from above. He completely missed his chance at ever regaining his momentum before he was thrown off balance and fell on the floor flat. Yaya won the round this time again.

"Ow..." He groaned and picked himself up off the ground.

"That was nice, BoBoiBoy. You nearly had me." Yaya said like showing off her good sportsmanship towards her opponent.

"Yeah. That was close. But next time will be different!" He pledged himself to her that he will win the next time they'll face off.

* * *

They trained until dusk arrived.

"Thank you very much!" They said and bowed at Aoi and Yaya. Kanao left to tend to some business she had with her Master, Shinobu.

"You guys are welcome!" Yaya clasped her hands for another day passed with them training the boys. Aoi wants to say something but her eyes laid on the figures behind the door and crossed her arms then looked away.

A little confused as to why she did that, they shifted their backs and saw Zenitsu and Inosuke peeking themselves to see them.

"Zenitsu! Inosuke!" Tanjiro said happily upon seeing them. However, they immediately run off somewhere.

"That's weird." BoBoiBoy scratched the back of his head.

"I refuse to get involved." Aoi said. Yaya looked at her with a raised eyebrow before turning her head towards her close friend.

"I hope we'll train again tomorrow!" She said cheerfully.

"Yeah!" He copied.

The next day, Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy had gourds on their hands. Since they've been training and maintaining their breathing state around the clock, they figured it is about time they'll try and break the gourds.

Gathering air into their mouths, they plunged them down on the gourds' holes, making an effort to explode them with oxygen.

"YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN DO IT!" The nurses cheered them on like they're lives are depending on them.

Fueled by their cheers, they expended more air into their gourds until they felt a crack forming from below. Once they fully exhausted their oxygen in the gourds, they momentarily ruptured and exploded into pieces.

"It broke!" The boys had a _eureka_ moment, followed by the nurses.

Now, all you have to break is this huge gourd!" Naho brought in the big gourd as a demonstration.

"Oh, yeah!" BoBoiBoy pumped his fist in the air. He is savouring this victory with everything he got. After his celebratory moment, he spotted Zenitsu and Inosuke spying on them behind a bush.

_'What are they doing?'_ He eyed them both. The blonde and boar boys retreated elsewhere since they were acting suspicious towards the perceptive boy. It only left him in his thoughts of why they were spying them instead of coming to train with them.

* * *

As usual for the injured people, they slept until morning broke while the earliest are off to go train. Zenitsu was the first to get up in the morning while Inosuke was known to be a heavy sleeper and continued to snore in his wildest dreams in his head.

_'So, they already gone off to train. Jeez, it's the crack of dawn.' He thought. 'Putting in effort isn't my thing. There's nothing more draining than persevering every day.'_

"Chu chu!" Chuntaro/Ukogi flew into his hand.

"Oh, it's you." Zenitsu said. "Maybe getting left behind by Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy is making me panic, but I can't get the hang of anything even if they show me for hours."

"Chu chu."

"Now I realize that we're a total lost cause."

"Chu chu!"

"Wait, did you just say, _"**Yes, you are"**_?" He translated the bird's sentence. "How can you be so cruel? Would it kill you to say just once, "You're working hard, too"?"

"Chuu chuu!"

"Did you just say, **_"Work harder"_**?" He sighed. "I guess there's no way out of it."

"Chu chu chu!"

"**_"You'll let BoBoiBoy down if you don't work hard"_**?" He paused. "I guess that one was on me, right? I'm supposed to be his friend. He tried to make me go train with him and Tanjiro. But how could I when I turned down their proposals?"

Zenitsu glanced at his cup filled with medicine that was sitting on the table top near him. He grabbed it before giving a hesitating look. Not waiting for any longer, he chugged down the medicine before he changes his mind.

"Gross!" He grimaced. After that, he heard the sound of someone standing up beside him. Unexpectedly, he saw Inosuke standing on his own bed. Smoke escaped from his mask's nostrils.

"Come on, Monitsu." He said as he addressed him with a different name.

They both went out of their ward in search for Shinobu to ask for her assistance and to be their instructor. By the time they located her, she agreed to help them practice what the other two boys have been practicing.

"What Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy are trying to master is a skill called _"Total Concentration, Constant."_" Shinobu gave them a concept. "By continuing to do Total Concentration Breathing every second of the day, your basic stamina level will skyrocket."

Zenitsu and Inosuke gave themselves a questioning look to each other.

"Let's just go ahead and try it!" Shinobu said.

Of course, when they tried it the first time, they fell on the floor breathing really heavily.

"IMPOSSIBLE! SERIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE!"

Next, they then got help from Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"I still can't sustain Total Concentration Breathing all day unless I really throw myself into it, but I bet you two can do it!" Tanjiro said, having high hopes for them.

"What he said. To maintain Total Concentration Breathing is a difficult task to do. You have to exert a lot of effort if you want to make it happen. I'm sure you guys will be able to do it in no time!" BoBoiBoy said.

"You go like this to make your lungs expand!" Tanjiro showed them a demonstration. Although, it only looked like he is posing something else than showing the proper way.

"When that rattles your blood, your bones and muscles will go, **_"Boom! Boom!"_** You gotta stop it!" He puffed his chest twice.

"What kind of presentation is that...?" BoBoiBoy sweatdropped.

It didn't help as they whimpered in confusion. An uneasy feeling loomed their heads.

"Uhmm... And all that's left to do is train like crazy! If we can do it, then so do you guys!" The other boy said. He hoped that what he had said will motivate them to train.

He expected them to nod, but all they got was a fast shake from their heads as they declined.

"Now, now..." Shinobu appeared behind and placed her hands on the two trainees' shoulders. "We're talking about a basic skill, or should I say a beginner's skill, so why wouldn't you be able to do it? But it's also true that one must put great effort into mastering it, right?"

She then walked over to the sitting boys. Her first target would be Inosuke. She sat in front of him and placed her hand at his shoulder.

"Well, why wouldn't you be able to do it, though?"

A vein popped on his head.

"I was sure it would be child's play for you, Inosuke. Are you sure you can't do it? Even though there's no reason you can't do it? It can't be helped, then, if you can't do it."

She pat him on the shoulder twice.

"Can't be helped! Can't be helped!"

Multiple veins appeared on his head followed up by smoke released from his mask's nostrils.

"HUUUUUUH?! I CAN DO IT, ALL RIGHT! WHY WOULDN'T I?! DON'T MESS WITH ME, OR I SWEAR I'LL RIP OFF YOUR BREASTS!"

The last comment was heard by the white-streaked hair boy. Even if his mind prevented him from imagining it, his flushed face gave it away.

_'Don't think about it! Don't think about it! Don't think about it! DAMMIT! DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!'_

Satisfied with her persuasion to the boar, she grabbed a good hold on Zenitsu's free hand with her hands.

"Please give it your all, Zenitsu! I'm your biggest cheerleader!"

The hand holding, the encouraging words. It was enough for Zenitsu to be all red in the face until he started bursting with joy.

"YEEEEEEEEEES, MA'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!"

* * *

_'I honestly can't believe that worked. Lady Shinobu sure knows what to do.'_

BoBoiBoy thought as he watched Zenitsu running on the fence and Inosuke lifting up the rocks tied in rope with Tanjiro rooting him on. He stood a fair yard away from them, Kanao beside him.

"Hey Kanao. How are you?" He started a conversation with her. She didn't say anything back and instead looked at him with a smile on her face.

"Uhm... You're looking good today, hehehe." He scratched the back of his head. He felt awkward just trying to instigate a pleasant chat with the silent girl. Over the past weeks, he had barely interacted much with the Flower Tsuguko. It felt natural to feel this slight uncomfort with her around.

"Why aren't you training with them, BoBoiBoy?" Shinobu walked over to him.

"I needed a time-out. Tanjiro can help them without me so it's all right." He replied feeling a little laid-back.

"That's good! Next time when you're going to train again, make sure to not cause anymore damage to the property around you, got it?" The way she had said those words sounded sweet, but if it weren't for his enhanced hearing, he couldn't have noticed the seeping poison behind the tone.

Not wanting to aggravate her in any means necessary, BoBoiBoy nodded quickly before he forget. Shinobu closed her eyes and smiled.

_'I'm gonna have to minimize the damage this time. The last thing I would want is getting an earful from Yaya and Lady Shinobu.'_ He gulped by his own thought.

"Oh, right! Kanao, you're in the same class, so why don't you join them?" Shinobu asked to her Tsuguko.

Kanao didn't reply and made a move of facing Shinobu and bowing in front of her before leaving to go to the well beside the fence.

"Is Kanao alright?" BoBoiBoy sounded a bit a concerned. "She kinda ignores our questions, and the fact that she hasn't done anything beside training us worries me."

"If you're that curious, why don't you ask Yaya or Aoi? After all, those two are closer to her more than me." Shinobu told him then started to walk away inside the mansion.

"Wait!" He stopped her from entering the mansion. She turns her head around to meet his questioning look.

"Wouldn't it be faster if I just asked you instead?"

He received no answer for a while. It only took but a few moments for Shinobu to open her mouth again.

"The only way for her to do something is by giving her orders. I'm merely her Master. If you wanted to hear more, you should ask Yaya or Aoi for that matter." She half-told him what he needed to hear before retreating back into the mansion.

_'That's strange. She's relying both on Yaya and Aoi to ask me about Kanao. Is Kanao really shy in terms of socializing, or am I just being too close into her personal space...? Or is it something else?'_

He continued to look at the Flower Tsuguko near the well. Then back to the Gonpachiro squad with Tanjiro and Inosuke encouraging Zenitsu lifting the rocks.

"More! More! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"You damn wimp!"

"You got this, Zenitsu!"

BoBoiBoy laughed at their acts. He is surprised that Inosuke would be rooting for someone in his own way. He was proud that Zenitsu is exerting much effort into his training, although Shinobu influenced him to do it by infatuating him. And he is happy to know Tanjiro is supporting his friends and not just all about himself.

His curiosity brought him back to look at Kanao. He sees her shoving her hand in her haori's pocket and pulled out a bronze coin. She flicks it in the air and landed it on top of her hand.

It showed heads.

"What was that about?" BoBoiBoy looked intently at what she did. He gasped when she made eye contact with him. Her purple eyes were piercing deeply into his own brown orbs.

Realizing he was staring at her, he looked back at the group, with more shouting and cheering, Inosuke running on the fence this time, Zenitsu still lifting the rocks, and Tanjiro rooting for his progress.

"You're doing great! Keep it up! Right now! Harder! Bam! That's it! You can do it, Zenitsu! You've got this! Looking good!"

He wavered his eyes back to Kanao, who in turn stared at someone, specifically Tanjiro. It was only a minute until she started to walk somewhere else.

"That's odd. Why was she looking at Tanjiro?" He muttered.

In his head, he still couldn't get Kanao out of his mind. It bothered him until he needed to talk to Yaya or Aoi, wherever they may be. Deciding for it, he walked back into the mansion and pondered.

_'They could still be in their nursing duties. If they are, then I shouldn't bother them right now. They're still busy tending with the other patients besides us. Maybe tonight, I'll ask one of them.'_

He sat on the porch of the mansion while eating his lunch alone. The group decided to train inside the dojo while he's out here, eating.

To him, it's a relaxing change than being cooped up in the mansion. It sure had it's benefits but the outside was more welcoming and breathable than inside. He preferred this right now.

He was eating silently when Tanjiro stormed outside and tackled BoBoiBoy, making him drop his food on the ground with a thud.

"M-My lunch..." He had animated tears on his eyes.

"BoBoiBoy, I have good news to tell you!" Tanjiro' eyes sparkled. He didn't speak anymore when BoBoiBoy suddenly grasped onto his top uniform's collar and reared him near his face.

"This better be good news, and it'd better be worth it that you have to ruin my lunch like that!" His eyes shone red. His Thunderstorm persona creeping in his person. Tanjiro is sweating bullets from the glare he is being shot at.

"I-I just wanna tell you that our swords have been reforged and they're bringing it here right now!" Tanjiro mouthed out the words.

"For real?!" BoBoiBoy lets him go seemingly forgetting the incident earlier. His eyes returned to normal afterwards and he smiled widely.

"Yeah! I heard it from the crow!" Tanjiro said. His nose then picked up a vague scent and he recognized it right away.

"Mr. Haganezuka's scent is here! Come on! Inosuke is getting his swords as well!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Let's go!"

They ran all the way to front of the Butterfly Mansiom with eager faces. Inosuke yelled _yahoo_ along the way and Tanjiro just couldn't wait for his sword to be brought in and seeing Haganezuka.

"There they are!" BoBoiBoy pointed to three men from a distance. His face brighten up seeing his sword forger, Kazuhiro Hisashi, again.

"Hey! Hey! Mr. Haganezuka!" Tanjiro yelled and waved at them. "Long time no see!"

Apart from Tanjiro, BoBoiBoy can clearly see both Haganezuka and Hisashi giving their straw hats to the other man and both wielding knives.

"How have you... been?" Tanjiro dreads at the last word when he sees Haganezuka charged at him with a knife, not before dodging at the last second.

"M-Mr. Haganezuka?!" Tanjiro said with all color drained from his face.

"SHAAAAAA!"

BoBoiBoy didn't forget about the other one and immediately moved away from being stabbed.

"M-M-Mr. Hisashi...?!" He said in the same state as Tanjiro.

"How dare you snap my sword in two...?" Haganezuka spoke menacingly. "YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE!"

"And you...!" Hisashi points at BoBoiBoy. "I forged the sword as beautifully as I could... YOU DARE BLEMISH ITS BEAUTY BY DESTROYING IT?!"

"I'm sorry! B-But to be honest, we came this close to being killed! Our opponent was insanely strong!" Tanjiro tried reasoning with them.

"Y-Yeah! B-Because of that, our swords were broken since the opponent we fought was powerful!" BoBoiBoy added.

Haganezuka and Hishashi poked Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy on the cheek real hard in rapid succession.

"Not true! That has nothing to do with it! You're the one to blame! It's all your fault! You're pitifully weak! That's why it broke! Otherwise, the swords would never snap like that! And don't say it broke just because your opponent was strong! The fault lies in the user wielding the sword!"

"But...!"

They brought out their knives.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

They chased them around like a pair of cats and mice.

"Is that a new training regimen?" Shinobu asked as she is clueless to what is happening.

"Probably not." Aoi said.

"Not really." Yaya replied. "Let's hope they survived getting chased around. Hehe!"

* * *

"Well, Mr. Haganezuka and Mr. Hisashi are very passionate men." Inosuke's sword forger said.

"Yes." Both said.

"They love their swords more than anyone. There's no one like them, even in the sword forgers' homeland. Mr. Hisashi, however, is a special man when it comes to forging the user's swords. He may had the same compassion as Mr. Haganezuka but he can be very strict with how the sword can be used." He explained them briefly.

_'I'd never struck Mr. Hisashi as a very strict man before. The first impression he had on me wasn't like that.'_ BoBoiBoy thought. He looked back with Haganezuka and Hisashi grunting behind their backs.

"My name is **Kanamori**." He introduced himself as a man with black hair that reached down his neck and a red goblin mask. He wears a white long sleeved buttoned shirt and wearing a black haori.

"I was the one who forged Master Inosuke's swords. I would be thrilled if they prove useful in battle." Kanamori said. They then stared at Inosuke, outside sitting on the porch while holding the blades. The swords changed into two indigo-gray colours.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Kanamori said, with Haganezuka and Hisashi beating their hands on Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy's back with the two latters not reacting to it.

"The dull sheen of that indigo-gray hue is so cool. It's a fine color for a sword."

"I'm happy for you, Inosuke, since your sword was chipped all over." Tanjiro commented while ignoring the attacks Haganezuka is giving him.

"Which reminds me, how did your swords get chipped, Inosuke?" BoBoiBoy asked while resisting Hisashi's constant attacks from behind.

"How do you like the grips? The thing is, this is the first time I've ever forged swords for a dual-wielder." Kanamori admitted.

Inosuke stood from his spot and headed over to pond. He knelt down to pick up some rocks from beside the pond.

"Master Inosuke?" Kanamori said a bit curious.

They watched him pick up a rock.

"Hold on, is he gonna—aaaugghhh!" BoBoiBoy got his mouth pinched by Hisashi, still upset about the swords.

Once they saw Inosuke raising the rock in his hand to the air...

"HAAAAAARR! HAAAAAR!"

He pounds the rock on the blade. It promptly made the inhabitants scream at his semi-heinous and idiotic act.

"Better." Inosuke commented as he glanced at his sword with chips spread across like his previous blades.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU MISERABLE BRAT!" Kanamori was being held back by Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"YOU BASTARD! ARE YOU FLAUNTING IT?!"

"WE'RE SORRY! WE'RE SORRY!" They apologized for Inosuke's actions.

Inosuke ignored the sword forger's threats and bashed the rock to his other blade.

"BASTARD!!! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"

"WE'RE VERY SORRY!" BoBoiBoy is giving everything he got to repel this man from going on a killing spree. Thankfully for them, they will be leaving by sunset.

"Unbelievable! He's unbelievable! Taking a stone to those swords? Unbelievable!" Kanamori complained with Haganezuka and Hisashi at his side as they are leaving the mansion.

"We're sorry! We're sorry! We're sorry! We're sorry! We're sorry!" Tanjiro repeated for the umpteenth time. Inosuke held on to their shirts like a kid lost in a mall.

* * *

They're in their beds and focusing on their breathing state while not dozing off in the midst of it. The nurses checked up on them if they happen to be snoring. So far, none of them were sleeping soundly so it's a good sign that they had gotten used to it.

"Looks like they're all fine." Naho whispered.

"After all, they're both were really giving it their all!" Sumi added.

"Let's make them some rice balls again!" Kiyo said.

Finally, after a few days of training, they had turn the tides against their opponents.

Tanjiro and Kanao were competing in a game of tag again. With a little luck, Tanjiro managed to surpass Kanao's speed and grabbed her wrist.

"I did it!" Tanjiro yelled.

"He really did it!" BoBoiBoy cheered for his friend.

"Looks like it's us again." Yaya said and went over to the other end of the area. BoBoiBoy followed.

"Begin!" Naho said.

Like last time, BoBoiBoy darted to her spot. Yaya dodged but barely. He chased after her with near misses of grabbing her arm. Yaya begins to sweat with how he is able to catch up her.

_'You've definitely gotten faster than before!'_ Yaya said in her mind.

_'I gain this much speed because my body changed and thanks to my Elemental Split. Now, all I had to do is catch Yaya!'_

Keeping the note in his head, he sped up and closelined on her figure. And at that moment, he couldn't contain his excitement as he finally managed to cease her running and grabbed her wrist.

Yaya gasped. She got caught in just under a minute.

"Wooooohoooooo! I finally caught you!" BoBoiBoy jumped in the air with his hands up in a celebratory manner.

"Way to go, BoBoiBoy!" Tanjiro raised his voice.

"You really got me good, BoBoiBoy! That's wonderful!" Yaya praised.

Next stage is the reflex training.

Tanjiro blocked one of her hands from moving the cup. Kanao also blocked his hands and vice versa. They were too fast that the air around them were blinking rapidly.

"Good move! You can do it!" Sumi cheered on behalf of the others watching.

"So fast!" BoBoiBoy had barely kept up with their pace.

"Who's gonna grab the cup first?" Yaya asked.

With one yell, Tanjiro blocked another cup from being picked up and instantly grabbed his own before she can do anything about it. He successfully picked up and was about to splash her.

Although, he didn't splash her but instead place the cup on top of Kanao's head. There was a moment of silence before the young nurses were screaming in delight.

"He won!"

"Does that count as winning?!"

"Either way, it's the same thing!"

They and Tanjiro hopped in the air for his victory while Kanao was left there contemplating on what happened.

"Let's see if you can beat me now." Yaya told the other boy. Later, they got themselves into the final round of the stage.

"C'mon BoBoiBoy! You can do it!" Tanjiro screamed from side. The young nurses followed to encourage him further.

Soon after the signal was gone, the competitors unleashed loads of fast movements against their own moves. BoBoiBoy tapped a cup that was unguarded but got blocked by Yaya's. She went for another before BoBoiBoy moved his other hand to counter her.

_'Don't let up now! This is your only chance! Now!'_

He relied on his instincts to get the cup before she can. Luckily, her hand slipped past the one cup she didn't get to grab by BoBoiBoy. Her eyes widen. She knew she would be doused in medicated water. She shut her eyes tightly, bracing for the liquidated medicine on her face.

***Thud***

She didn't feel anything wet. Confused as to why he didn't splash her yet, she opened her eyes slowly to find BoBoiBoy's wide smile plastered on his face. His hand wasn't holding the cup. She wondered where it was.

"Got you." He said. He then pointed on top of her head that there lies the cup. She glanced up to see that the cup was there.

"Woohoo! I did it! I did it! Guys, I did it!" The Cyclone side of him was bursting with ecstatic joy. Tanjiro and the young nurses bomb-rushed to the boy and wrapped up together in a group hug while shouting praises all the way.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain blonde and boar boy were peeking on them behind the door. They felt like they were falling behind.

"Oh, crap." They both said.

Afterwards, they trained again and doubled the effort. Zenitsu ran like a cheetah and screaming while Inosuke raised the odds of lifting the rocks by one, making three rocks as well as making them huge as possible.

* * *

Shinobu summoned the boys to have their check up on their most injured parts. She finished examining BoBoiBoy's ribcage and deemed positive results. However, he can't make any drastic decisions like going pass his limiting points or else, any of his injured parts will open up.

"All right! Open up! Aaaaaa!" Shinobu made Tanjiro open up his mouth to check up on his jawbone, since Kanao had broken it the first time they met.

"Okay! Looks like your jaw is as good as new. All right, you can close your mouth now." Shinobu sat back in her seat.

"For you BoBoiBoy, you may have damaged your ribs from training too hard but it doesn't mean that it's fatal yet to endanger yourself while in combat. However, I advise that you always be careful to not sustain anymore damage to your upper torso, much less it reopens your internal wounds. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." He bowed his head in shame. "In fact, Yaya told me about it in my last check up."

"Is that so? Well, that concludes this exam then." Shinobu said. "Since both of you are physically sound now, you may take on your missions without any misgivings."

"So, we're done with our training?" Tanjiro asked eagerly.

"Yes, all that's left for you now is actual combat."

"Right!" Tanjiro said.

"So, are we done here?" BoBoiBoy asked.

"Oh wait! Before I forget, Lady Shinobu..." Tanjiro referred to the young woman. "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"What would that be?"

Tanjiro sparkled. "Have you ever heard of the **Hinokami Kagura Dance**?"

"I have not."

"Eh?!" He sounds shocked. "Uh, w-well then, how about **Fire Breathing**?"

"Never heard of it."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" Tanjiro felt betrayed.

"A-Actually, this is something that happened during my childhood."

"Yes, yes."

Moments later, Tanjiro told Shinobu of his past in relation to the Hinokami Kagura Dance as well his father. BoBoiBoy sat there, listening to his story.

"I see. So, for some reason, Tanjiro, your father used Fire Breathing." Shinobu had her finger on her chin. "All I can tell you is that while **Flame Breathing** does exist, it's not **Fire Breathing**."

"Wait what?" BoBoiBoy squeaked out a worried tone. "Lady Shinobu, what do you mean? Aren't they like the same thing?"

"Hm?" She tilts her head. "Is there something that bothers you, BoBoiBoy?"

"It is." He said. "Please tell me."

"Well, to be honest, I'm not familiar with the details myself. Please forgive me." She begins to explain. "But I do know that they're very strict about the exact phrasing. **Flame Breathing** must never be referred to as **Fire Breathing**."

"Uhmm... can I ask a question for that?" BoBoiBoy raised his hand. "If you create your own breath style, can you label it yourself accordingly?"

"Huh? Why do you ask that?" Shinobu asked.

BoBoiBoy glanced at Tanjiro, hoping he might provide him a good answer. He gets the note and faced Shinobu.

"Lady Shinobu, BoBoiBoy here can also utilize the **Flame Breathing Technique**." Tanjiro told her. Shinobu widened her purple eyes.

"You can use Flame Breathing?!" She acted very surprised.

"It's true. I got this breathing by training back at the wisteria house while we were still injured. I wasn't aware that it is supposed to be Flame Breathing because of its strict names. That's why I asked you if it's possible that labelling the breath style is also allowed... is it?"

Shinobu hummed for a while. Her interest in BoBoiBoy spiked ever since she met him back at Mt. Natagumo. The ability to split into three and five clones were a baffling experience she witnessed. No one with a Breathing Technique like that is able to do something as complicated as that. She marked BoBoiBoy to be her next person-of-interest.

"I'm unfamiliar with what had happened to you while training at the wisteria house. Like I said, all I can say is that **Flame Breathing** must never be referred to as **Fire Breathing**."

BoBoiBoy didn't feel better hearing that. He gulped at the sounds of it.

"But, there's no rule saying that the created breath style of the user can label their breathing as long as it stayed true to the original breathing style. In other words, you're free to call your breathing as Fire Breathing but never mention your labelled technique to other Demon Slayers bearing the Flame Breathing Technique."

Hearing them had lift the heavy weight of his chest. "Phew. Thank goodness. I was worried for a second there."

She continued. "If you'd like to know more about Flame Breathing, you should ask the Flame Hashira, **Kyojuro Rengoku**, but unfortunately, he's out on a mission."

"Understood!" They stood up and bowed in front of her. "Thank you for all that you've taught us."

"We'll be sure to ask Mr. Rengoku if we ever get the chance to see him again." BoBoiBoy said.

_'Kyojuro Rengoku... Isn't he the guy that looked at me intently when I kicked Shinazugawa in the head?'_ He thought.

"Right." Shinobu said.

"Now then, please excuse us!" They were about to leave before Shinobu stopped them.

"Boys?"

"Yes?"

Her smile retained.

"I'm expecting great things of you both."

She held high hopes for them.

"Right!"

Once they left, Tanjiro headed elsewhere to help with Zenitsu and Inosuke on their training. Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy was about to head outside when he stumbled upon a certain someone on the way.

"Oh, there you are!" Yaya made her way towards him. "Is your check up complete?"

He nodded as an answer. "Yeah."

"Where are you going?"

"Just going outside for some fresh air." He answered.

"Well, I have something that I've been wanting to show you. If you have time, that is." She said.

"Sure. I can come."

She held a gleeful grin. "Great! Let's go to my room!"

She then led him to her own room that was kept neat and tidy. BoBoiBoy was flabbergasted by how clean it was. The flowers' fragrance wafted in the air and fits the entire room's mood.

"I've never been inside of your room before." BoBoiBoy commented.

"You can come in." Yaya gestured for him to get inside. She then closed the sliding door behind him and walked to a nearby closet.

Since he is a guest in her own room, he toured himself around the small room. Around himself are decorated ornaments that are probably vintage, few paintings that had images of the mountain side and forests, flowers for their pleasant odors, and an open window to let air inside.

She is seen digging something from the closet in a scurried manner.

"Can you face the other way and close your eyes, BoBoiBoy?"

He was about to ask why but chose not to and do what he was told. He practically closed his eyelids.

"Hey Yaya? What's going on?" He asked while shutting his eyes.

"Hold on. I'm almost there. Just need to... Ahh! Found it!"

Footsteps hurried to his position. He tensed up because he can sense how close she was to him despite his eyes closed and facing his back to her. Something soft had covered up half of his head. Before he can react, Yaya spoke.

"Okay, you can open your eyes and turn around now!"

Her voice held an excited tone. BoBoiBoy slowly flutters his eyes open and turned around.

"Look at yourself in the mirror." She grab his top's sleeve and dragged him to an oval shaped mirror adorned on the wall. His eyes were ready to burst open when he sees himself in his reflection.

"My hat!" He screamed.

"I figured your reaction to be like that." She laughed and BoBoiBoy followed.

"W-Where— How—?! I thought...! T-There's no—"

She cut him off mid-stuttering. "To be honest, I had no idea myself. When I first woke up back at the forest, I found it lying around covered in dirt. I fixed it up as soon as I could because this hat..."

She fought the urge to blush.

"...it's the only thing to make me feel like I'm close to you or something."

BoBoiBoy found himself flustered. He couldn't suppress the urge to just smile at her direction. She even kept it clean for him. She must really for him that much.

"Thank you so much, Yaya." He offered her a quick hug. Yaya flushed red and hugged him back. They broke off with BoBoiBoy still gazing himself in the mirror.

Looking back, he was fine without the hat. Seeing him wearing it right now just feels... nostalgic. It reminded him of how things were different before they got here in the demon-ridden world. He even remembered of his old uniform, his TAPOPS uniform. If he was wearing them right now, it would complete his look.

He would look standoffish if he were to wear his hat while in his Demon Slayer outfit.

How would his friends react?

How would Shinobu react?

How would Aoi react?

How would the young nurses react?

Then again, Inosuke DID stood out than the rest of them due to his appearance.

"Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Her hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present.

"You were spacing out for a minute there." She looked concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about how the others would see me wearing my hat again." He scratched his cheek with his index finger.

"Hehehehe! They would probably think that you have an animal on your head or something."

He didn't argue. His hat does have an appearance of an extinct species known as dinosaurs.

"Oh, wait 'til Inosuke sees this! He'll probably challenge me to see if his mask is better than my hat!"

They spent talking with each other chatting about BoBoiBoy's hat and their friends' reactions to it. The topic suddenly shifts to another as he put on a serious face.

"Yaya, there's something I want to ask of you."

"What is it?" She asked. She looked at his face and can tell he is serious.

"What can you tell me about Kanao?"

The question surprised her. "Kanao? Why are you interested in her?"

He answered. "I'm curious about her. She doesn't talk much and pretty much doesn't do anything other than training with us. I was hoping to ask Lady Shinobu about her but she told me to ask you or Aoi about Kanao."

Yaya crossed her arms. "Are you really sure you're only curious about her? Nothing of any sorts?" Suspicion rose in her tone.

"Uhh... yeah. I just want to know about her, and how she is like that. That's all."

"I see." She sighed.

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing...!"

What ensued next is an awkward silence.

"It'll take a while, but take a seat and I'll tell you what I know from Lady Shinobu."

When she say _take a seat_, she meant to kneel down on the mat and wait for her to sit down across from him as well.

"Kanao was orphaned at a very young age. She lived in poverty most of her life as a young child. According to Lady Shinobu, Kanao was abused and was sold from her parents."

"That's not all. Kanao was subjected to this kind of torture that she finally snapped like a rope. Her emotions began to repress and to the point where she can only make decisions is through the orders she was given. That's how she was raised. To be a slave."

"It was a day later when Lady Shinobu and her big sister, **Kanae Kocho**, took her in and gave her much food, water, and other things in order to survive. She even began to live with them and sees them as her Masters and eventually, her adopted big sisters. Even when she was taken in, she is still unable to make decisions of herself yet because of the physical abuse she experienced and endured for so long."

"To help set things right for her, Lady Shinobu's big sister gave her a coin to flip to decide on which path to follow when she didn't know what to do. When it's flipped **Tails**, it means _Talk_. When it's flipped **Heads**, it means _Don't Talk_. This method is used when she is making her own decisions."

She paused to let BoBoiBoy piece together the story. When he was done, he nodded at her to continue.

"Even after Lady Kanae's death, she displayed little to no emotion to the anyone at all. She bare a strong hatred against the demons when she saw Aoi's parents and the young girls' parents being devoured right in front of her. Her hatred for the demons continued to grew over the few years. Initially, Lady Shinobu instructed Kanao to behead the demons only without thinking, since she has no will of her own. But despite that, she begins to grow on her own and learn to take part in fighting demons without being told."

"Besides that, however, she still relied on the coin for her own decision-making. It had taken years for her to recover about the death of Lady Shinobu's big sister. Lady Shinobu had once told me that when Kanao's soul will open up more upon meeting a certain someone, like a boy."

She sighed when she finished retelling Kanao's past. It had been an hour since she had told him this.

"I had no idea that she had a dark past." It was his first comment. He couldn't speak after that. Kanao was raised in the most cruel way possible. He couldn't imagine what living in poverty feels like.

"Everyone has their own dark past." Yaya said. "It changes people. Whether be good or bad. Whatever path people chose is entirely up to their own person. Others don't decide their fate, but only themselves. That's what Lady Shinobu told me from her big sister. Even if I didn't meet Lady Kanae, I could tell that she was a bigger influence on Lady Shinobu."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

"You did? When?"

"I heard it from her the other night while I was training. From the way she talked about her big sister, she talks with high regard. She cared about her as much as Lady Shinobu cared about us."

Neither didn't know what to say after that. From learning about Kanao's past and about Kanae Kocho were interesting to BoBoiBoy. He felt sorry for Shinobu for having to bear this much responsibility on her shoulders.

As a Demon Slayer, as her position as a Hashira, as a doctor of the Butterfly Mansion, as a caretaker and motherly/sisterly figure for Yaya and the others.

He can relate so much to her. To himself as he was the superhero of Pulau Rintis, one of the protectors of the galaxy, a former TAPOPS member, and a waiter in his grandfather's KokoTiam.

They shouldered many responsibilities.

"Thanks for talking with me today, BoBoiBoy. I hope I haven't taken much of your time." The pink Demon Slayer said a little bit sad.

"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "I mean, I was gonna get some air to relax but actually, I was hoping for you to come hang out with me when you see me there."

Her eyes shone. Looks like it ended being better for them than she thought.

"And uhmm... here." He removed his hat, revealing his black hair with the white strand still shown, and gave it to her.

"W-Why?" She asked on confusion.

"I think I'm not ready to go out there and show myself to the others wearing that yet." He chuckled nervously.

"Oh c'mon! You wear your hat all the time back home! Don't tell me you're too reluctant to wear it now just because we live in a different society!" She pouted. She forcefully applied his hat back to its original owner's head.

"H-Hey! I said I don't wanna!"

"You're gonna wear it and you're gonna look good in doing it!"

"Please, no!"

"Come on! I didn't fix this just so you can give it back to me!"

"I said no!"

"Well, I say yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

In the end, he finally gave in, much to her happy expression.

_'I guess... it's worth a shot. Let's hope they don't laugh or something.'_

* * *

**This fic isn't going to be abandoned, by the way. Don't worry. Updates are slow because I'm reading the KNY manga, currently.****Thanks for reading and I'll see you all in the next one!**


	32. New Mission Finale

Their Rehabilitation Training days are drawing to a close end.

Right now, BoBoiBoy, Zenitsu and Inosuke stood back to see Tanjiro have at it with Kanao in their reflex training exercise. They couldn't see where their hands are with the speed they inputted themselves. The ones that can keep up with their pace are BoBoiBoy and Yaya, as both mastered their Total Concentration, Constant.

It's also an opportunity for BoBoiBoy to show off his hat to everyone present. The results he had gotten were fairly good.

Tanjiro was in awe by the hat's appearance and he told BoBoiBoy that it fits his personality.

Zenitsu kept commenting that he had never seen a type of hat that is like foreign to him. Still, he said it looked good on him, saying it looked really unique to be on his head. BoBoiBoy didn't know if he takes that as a compliment or not.

Inosuke, as expected, sees his hat as a contender to rival his own mask. BoBoiBoy knew Inosuke had to make things a competition to him, even to the little things like his hat and the mask. In the end, Inosuke was declared the winner for how much he boasted about his own, yet BoBoiBoy didn't even try to because he didn't want to.

Aoi complimented about his hat, despite her hard exterior-ed face she's putting on. She even said he looked cute while wearing it. BoBoiBoy had shivers up his spine when he sensed a glaring dagger towards Aoi.

The young nurses were pretty amazed by the hat's introduction on BoBoiBoy's head. They each took turns on wanting to try it out on their heads. He didn't mind as long as it made them happy and him as well.

Shinobu had already seen the hat before from Yaya. Once she had seen BoBoiBoy wearing it right now, she commented that his hat made him look like a child. Not in a mocking way she said it, but in an endearing way to not hurt his feelings.

Aside from all of those above, they watched the onslaught happening.

"Holy—" Zenitsu gulped. If that's how he is going to be trained, he'll need to triple the effort in doing so.

"Look at them go!" Inosuke, himself, was feeling nervous by how much faster they can move with their hands.

"I gotta admit, I think Tanjiro might be faster than me." BoBoiBoy said while spectating.

"That's not true, BoBoiBoy. You and Tanjiro both matched up with your current states. He is just increasing his speed by using the Breathing Technique." Yaya explained.

Tanjiro gritted his teeth as he struggled to get any of the cups. Each time he grabs one, Kanao anticipated it and blocks his hand from grabbing it easily. The match was decided when Kanao had gotten the cup before Tanjiro can. As he was about to splashed, the time limit exceeded.

"That's it!" Aoi stopped them. Tanjiro let out a tired sigh and sat back down with sweat pouring down his face.

"You sure are fast, Kanao!" Tanjiro breathed out his words.

Kanao only stared at him as a response.

"Your record is now ten wins and ten losses." Aoi gave him the record.

"I'm totally not done yet." Tanjiro said as he swings his arm to respond his sore muscles.

"Let's go for a run. Are you up to it?" He asked to the rest of the boys.

"You mean while doing Total Concentration, Constant?" Zenitsu asked, not feeling energized.

"Yeah."

BoBoiBoy made his way towards his way towards them. "Let's do this!"

Tanjiro prepared his hand and palm-thrusted BoBoiBoy's middle torso. He neither flinched nor felt the pain.

"Didn't feel a thing." The other boy smirked. Tanjiro then went to Zenitsu next and did the same procedure he did to BoBoiBoy.

"Keep this up the whole time?" Zenitsu shook from the thrust.

"MONJIRO!" Inosuke revealed his abs to them, making Zenitsu notice it.

"Take this!" He later punched his stomach.

"That's nothin'!" Inosuke showed off his endurance prowess.

"You're all brawn and no brains!" The blonde narrowed his eyes towards the boar.

"Let's go!" Tanjiro said.

"Hehehe! That's awesome!" BoBoiBoy said his signature catchphrase and with a thumbs-up.

* * *

**A Few Months Earlier**

Prior to the events happening with BoBoiBoy and the rest of the Demon Slayers, somewhere lies an Infinite Castle, a very complicated structure with rooms that have entrances and exits to be literally distorted in every direction.

**Nakime**, a female demon who can play the Biwa, controls and manipulates this castle under her bidding with the use of her Biwa. With only a single pluck of her Biwa's string, she summoned demons into any position she so desire.

_'Where the hell is this place?'_ The newest **_Lower Rank Six_** Demon, **Kamanue**, thought in confusion as he looked around.

A **_Lower Rank One_**, **Enmu**, is seen walking around the castle's walkway with a **_Lower Rank Two_**, **Rokuro**.

_'Was it that woman's Blood Demon Art?'_ Kamanue gazed at the female demon with her Biwa. _'Looks like the whole space is distorted around that woman.'_

The mentioned demon plucked her Biwa's strings twice. The space around had been manipulated and the environment changed. A few more demons had spawned near the Lower Rank Six's spot.

A **_Lower Rank Three_**, **Wakuraba**, and a **_Lower Rank Four_**, **Mukago**, were summoned.

_'Only the Lower Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki have been summoned. That's never happened before.'_ Kamanue said in his head.

_'Lower Five isn't here yet.'_

Nakime struck her Biwa, bringing them all in on one spot.

_'It just moved! Blood Demon Art again?'_ Everyone around were looking at each other with no clue of what's going on. Kamanue then spotted a _woman_ above them wearing a black kimono staring down at them.

_'What's the deal with that woman?'_ Kamanue stared at _her_ red eyes with slits. _'Who is she?'_

The moment the _woman_ opened _her_ mouth, _her_ voice isn't feminine.

"Lower your heads and crouch down."

Kamanue realized this _woman_ isn't exactly a woman at all. No, _her_ voice is deep and masculine.

"Prostrate yourselves."

The environment suddenly shifted as the platform the _woman_ was standing had been lowered and now in front of them. Every Lower Moon did as they were told and crouched down with their hands lowered in front of them.

_'It's Master Muzan!'_ Kamanue sweats profusely. _'That's Master Muzan's voice! I didn't recognize him! He's changed his appearance and aura. The precision of his shape-shifting is mind-blowing!'_

"P-Please forgive us!" Mukago said on behalf of the five Lower Ranks. "Since you've assumed a different form and aura..."

"Who gave you permission to speak?" Muzan's threat silenced her. "Don't presume to voice your worthless thoughts. Answer my questions. Nothing else."

Muzan spoke. "Rui was killed. I'm talking about Lower Five. I have but one question to ask of you. Why is it that you demons in the Lower Ranks are so utterly weak?

"You shouldn't be satisfied with just being counted among the Twelve Kizuki. This is merely your starting point. To devour more humans, to gain more power... Your starting point for becoming useful to me..."

"For over a century, the members of the Upper Rank Twelve Kizuki remain unchanged. It's always been the demons in the Upper Ranks who've disposed of those Hashira demon hunters. But what about you demons in the Lower Ranks? How many times have you been replaced?"

_'That's easy for you to say, but we...'_

He didn't realized that he had dug his own grave.

"That's easy for you to say, but we..." Muzan had read Kamanue's mind. "What? Go ahead and say it."

_'He can read my mind?!'_ He dreaded at the thought. _'I'm screwed!'_

"Screwed how? Go ahead and say it." Veins appeared around Muzan's neck up to his head. Then, his demon mass with multiple mouths around its sides erupted out of his kimono's sleeve and grabbed the Lower Rank Six on its grasp.

"Please forgive me, Master Kibutsuji!" Kamanue cried. "Please! Please show me mercy! I'm truly sorry! I'm truly sorry! I'm truly—"

***Splat***

Just like that, a tendril is heading towards the Lower Rank Six with its gaping mouth hole. Blood oozed out and covered the rest of the Lower Ranks in blood. The mouth burped from feasting on the demon.

_'Why is this happening?' _Wakuraba, the Lower Rank Three, thought with sweat occuring. _'Am I going to be killed? After all I went through to become a Twelve Kizuki... Why? Why? I thought I was going to do more and more!'_

"Are you more afraid of the demon hunters than you are of me?" Muzan spoke.

"No!" Mukago, the Lower Rank 4, yelled.

"Every time you run into a demon hunter Hashira, the only thing on your mind is escape."

"Oh no, that's not what I'm thinking!" She started to cry out. "I'll put my own life on the line to fight for you!"

"Are you refuting what I just said?" Muzan threatened.

Mukago's fate was sealed as Muzan's tendril-like mass devoured her quickly. The blob had already consumed her whole.

_'No good! It's over! Our minds are being read. Whether we agree or disagree with him, he's still going to kill us!'_ Wakuraba glanced at the red flesh. He even analyzed Muzan and the flesh altogether.

_'We can't possibly beat him in battle, either! In that case...'_

He prepared his legs and his feet then spring upwards in a swift motion.

_'...the only option is to run!'_ He run around in different directions, hoping to look for an exit from this castle.

_'What a fool.'_ Enmu, the Lower Rank One, thought as he looked up to where Wakuraba is going.

_'Just make it out of here somehow! Somehow! Now that I've gotten this far away...'_ He was nearing the exit...

...until his head was all that's left from his body. Muzan held his head in one hand.

"I believe that the Twelve Kizuki are better off consisting of just the Upper Ranks. I am now dismantling the Lower Ranks."

_'He got me?! No way! Was it that Biwa Player's technique? But no, I didn't hear any biwa sounds.'_ It's his only thought before his vision blackened. _'Why? I can't regenerate my body.'_

Muzan then begins to remove all the blood from his head before throwing the Wakuraba's head in front of the two remaining Lower Ranks.

"Do you have any last words?" Muzan asked.

Rokuro, the Lower Rank Two, spoke up nervously. "I can still be of use to you! If you could give me just a short reprieve, I swear I'll be of use to you!"

"How long a reprieve are you asking for, specifically? How do you intend to be useful? What exactly can you accomplish with your current skills?"

"Your blood!" He yelled in a desperate attempt to save himself. "If you could give me a share of your blood, I will acclimate without fail! I will fight for you as an even more powerful demon!"

"What makes you think you can order me to give you my blood? You're beyond shameless. Remember who you are."

Rokuro spreads heaving gasps. "You misunderstood me! You misunderstood me! I just..."

"Shut up. I misunderstood nothing. I'm never mistaken about anything. I'm the one who calls the shots. My word is absolute. You have no right to reject what I say. Whatever I say is right is the right thing. You tried to tell me what to do. You deserve to die."

Another death happened inside of the Infinite Castle. Blood begins to pool all around the last remaining Lower Rank.

"Do you have any last words?" Muzan asked to the Lower Rank One.

_'He'll end up killed, too.'_ Wakuraba's head thought despite having all of his blood removed. _'Everything hinges on the Master's mood. I'll be dead soon myself.'_

"Well, let's see..." Enmu clasps his hands together. "This is like a dream for me. To die by your hand in person. And I so enjoyed hearing the other demons' last gasps! I feel so blessed! Because I love to see others in despair and agony. Because it's like a dream come true for me! I thank you for leaving me for last!"

Those were his last words before he would die. Muzan reconsiders them and sees something in Enmu. He proved that his current mentality is suited for the likes of him.

Proving himself valid, Muzan sent a thick tendril-like mass from above and injected Enmu in the neck with his blood. The Lower Rank One gasped and twitched uncontrollably and violently.

"That's what I like to hear. I'm going to give you an ample share of my blood. Although you might not be able to withstand the volume of blood, and die. Still, if you do manage to acclimate, you're sure to acquire even greater strength. Make yourself useful to me, then. Kill the demon hunter Hashira!"

Muzan points at his own ears as an emphasis. "If you can kill the demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings as well as the demon hunter with a white streak on his hair, I'll give you even more of my blood."

Enmu coughed up saliva and blood. After briefing him with his task, Nakime struck her Biwa many times, sending Muzan to someplace where there is an entrance/exit. Doors behind him closed altogether with Enmu as the last one to exit with a door mysteriously spawned beneath him and fell.

He landed on the deserted part of an unknown town as the sliding door above him disappear slowly. Enmu writhed himself in the pain of the blood Muzan gave to him.

_'What's this? I see something! It's gushing into me along with Master Muzan's blood!'_

A flashing image of Tanjiro appeared in his head along with BoBoiBoy in the last image.

"If I kill the Hashira and these kids, I can get more blood!" Enmu chuckled maniacally despite the pain.

"It's like a dream!"

* * *

Inside of the Butterfly Mansion housed the four young professional Demon Slayers and an idled Kamado Demon. It is currently 4:00 AM.

Since they have fully recovered, the rest of the Slayers were given a room to sleep in instead of the wards. They were roomed in together specifically as they don't want to take up most of the mansion's remaining guest rooms individually.

Tanjiro slept peacefully in his sleep. Zenitsu snores lightly while Inosuke is the complete opposite. BoBoiBoy slept in between Tanjiro and Zenitsu. He was moving himself in his sleep as the dreams he had gotten were slowly getting to him.

"CAWW! It's morning! Wake up!" The Kasugai Crow alarmed them. Some of them woke a bit groggily.

"Ahhh! What happened?!" BoBoiBoy sat up from his slumber in panic.

"What the heck?" Inosuke mumbled.

"What's going on?" Zenitsu muttered.

"The casualties of the Infinite Train are increasing. More than 40 are now missing. You are to join Kyojuro Rengoku on site. Head west at once!" The crow briefed them of their new mission.

"Kyojuro Rengoku..." BoBoiBoy hummed. "Hey Tanjiro, looks like we'll get to see him sooner than I thought."

The other boy nodded. "Yeah. But for now, let's prepare for our mission. Zenitsu, Inosuke, c'mon!"

"Oh come on... Five more minutes please..." Zenitsu muttered and tried to go back to sleep while the rest are getting themselves ready.

* * *

"I have decided to send Tanjiro and the others on the Infinite Train mission." Oyakata told the Insect Hashira. "Shinobu, may I ask what made you recommend Tanjiro and the other boy?"

"Tanjiro has a pure soul and is capable of striving hard on a daily basis, as for BoBoiBoy, he displays such hidden potential that neither all of us Hashiras are incapable of bringing it out. He worked harder than Tanjiro and that's all the more reason to send him along with Tanjiro and his other friends."

"I have a strong feeling in my gut telling me that their mission will bound to turn out greater than I anticipated. With BoBoiBoy as their teammate, they will achieve positive results."

Oyakata hummed at her gut feelings. "You must really believe in BoBoiBoy a whole lot if you are willing to send him out with the rest."

"Yes. And the upside that he and Tanjiro showed exceeded my expectations. And above all else, Tanjiro has a clear goal in mind. To defeat Kibutsuji."

"As far as that goes, I'm in agreement with you."

"Also, Tanjiro himself told me that his father had used the Fire Breathing technique. And shockingly, BoBoiBoy himself is able to use the Fire Breathing technique as well." Shinobu explained to the Master.

"Ah..." Oyakata hummed once more. It's not every day he gets to hear Demon Slayers utilizing the Fire/Flame Breathing technique.

"At this time, there's no denying that they still have a way to go, but perhaps Rengoku, the Flame Pillar, might be able to provide some guidance."

"Yes. Considering Tanjiro's sister, who won't devour humans after becoming a demon, as well as their encounter with Kibutsuji, it might very well be their destiny." Oyakata shares his opinion.

Meanwhile, both the dark redhead and white-streak haired boy are on their way to get their uniforms and their swords ready.

"All right, time to go!" Tanjiro held a confident face.

"Are you gonna get something? My sword is back at my room." BoBoiBoy asked.

"Nope. I'll be informing Aoi and Kanao that we're going to our next mission." Tanjiro answered.

Before he can respond, BoBoiBoy heard footsteps from around the corner they were about to go.

"Hm? Someone's coming." He told Tanjiro. Once the figure turned the other corner, they can see who it was. It's a boy their age.

They bumped each other's shoulders, even when they got out of the way.

_'Hold on, that guy... Wasn't that the guy from Final Selection?'_ BoBoiBoy thought as he gave a good look to the boy.

It was a young man that have a feral appearance. He is six feet taller, taller than Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy put together. His black hair is longer and like that of a mohawk-style. He has large, inward-slanting eyes. He has a long scar spread from his face. His outfit changed to a dark olive-green version of the Demon Slayer uniform, over which he still sported his old purple yukata.

_'Last time I looked, he was noticeably short. But now he's taller than us and have an amazing build in such a short time.'_

"Long time no see! Glad to see you're doing well!" Tanjiro shouted his greeting towards the Demon Slayer. Expectedly, he kept quiet and walked away, much to Tanjiro's way of greeting.

"Maybe he's still mad at you because you almost broke his arm." BoBoiBoy whispered.

"Really? But his scent tells me that..."

BoBoiBoy cuts him off. "You know what, let's just go. We still need to tell the others that we're going."

* * *

They found Aoi hanging some blankets on the clothesline outside of the mansion. They approached her to tell them of their mission and that they are going.

"Is that right? You're heading out now?" She asked. "It was only for a short time, but I'm glad we got to spend that time together."

Aoi stole a glance to BoBoiBoy who stared at her blue eyes. Her face brightened up with a pink tint covering her cheeks as she looked at him who had saved her back then. She tends back to her duty of hanging the blankets.

"G-Good luck to you both! Take c-care!" She had to slap herself mentally for stuttering like that.

"Thank you so much for looking out for us when we were so busy! Thanks to you, we can go back into battle!" Tanjiro praised her.

"You're clearly a lifesaver, Aoi! We'll treat you back the same way you treated us someday!" BoBoiBoy also gave his gratitude to the girl.

Aoi had stopped her doing and looked at the ground. "There's no need to thank me. After all, I survived Final Selection only by luck. And then, I was too afraid to go into battle. I'm a coward."

She pulled the blanket into her arms, but didn't do anything to it. She just stare downwards at the ground in shame.

"Hey, that doesn't matter." Tanjiro's voice reached her. "Since you helped us out, Miss Aoi, you're part of us now. And I'm carrying all of your emotions onto the battlefield with me!"

Wind breezed by her face. Aoi slowly looks back at the two boys. A look of wonder plastered.

"All right! Look after us if we get hurt again, okay?" Tanjiro then runs off somewhere from the part of the Butterfly Mansion.

"Aoi, listen." The mentioned girl shifts her eyes to the other boy. "Like he said, it doesn't matter what happened at Final Selection. Since you're here with us now, we'll look out for you and the others."

Her eyes wavered. "BoBoiBoy, I—"

"I also wanna thank you for being with Yaya for the past few years. You had no idea how happy she was when you were with her."

Her eyes widen. She had no idea how much of an influence she can become to Yaya. She treated her as if she is her own sister.

In reality, Aoi always wanted a sister in her own life. Ever since her parents were killed by demons, she had no one but herself to rely on. She spent the rest of her life in encompassing sadness, and wallowing in her own depression.

That is, until Shinobu and Kanae had took her in and treated her right.

"I gotta go now! Take care of yourself, Aoi! We'll be back before you know it!" BoBoiBoy is about to go look for Tanjiro.

"Wait!" Aoi stopped him from going yet. "T-Thank you... for everything."

BoBoiBoy looked back once more to meet tears forming on her eyes and a smile on her lips. He responded back with a smile of his own before making his way towards the back of the Butterfly Mansion.

Not long when he got there, he had already heard Tanjiro striking a conversation with a certain someone. BoBoiBoy realized he was not seen yet and hid beside the wall while peeking his head to listen at their chat.

"What was that you just flipped?"

"Farewell."

"Money? It says _Heads_ and _Tails_, huh? Why did you flip it?"

"Farewell."

"You really made it twirl around!"

Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy silently laughed at Tanjiro's cluelessness. 'I forgot that he doesn't know about Kanao's way of talking with someone.'

"If I flip this to decide what I haven't been ordered to do, I just decided whether or not to speak to you. **Don't Speak** was _heads_, and **Speak** was _tails_. Because it came up tails, I spoke to you." Kanao finished her explanation and turns to Tanjiro. "Farewell."

"Why don't you decide for yourself?" Tanjiro asked straightforwardly. "What did you want to do, Kanao?"

BoBoiBoy then leans on the wall and crossed his arms while trying not to be seen.

"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters to me, so I can't decide for myself." Kanao said with a smile.

"I don't think there's anything in this world that doesn't matter." Tanjiro said as an opinion. "I guess..."

Tanjiro crosses his arms. "...the voice in your heart is really tiny. Hmm... Sure, following orders is important, but..."

_'What are you gonna do, Tanjiro?'_ The hidden boy thought.

Tanjiro then beats his palm with his hand as he thought of an idea. "Hey, can I borrow that for a second?"

Kanao was startled by the question, but gives it to him anyway.

"Thanks!"

Soon, Tanjiro stood up and ran to the center of the yard with the coin in his hand.

"Okay! Let's toss this to decide!"

"Decide what?"

_'Exactly. Decide what, Tanjiro?'_ BoBoiBoy asked in his head.

"Whether or not..." He spun the coin in the air before catching it. "...you're going to listen hard to the voice in your own heart from now on!"

With the coin placed on the top of his hand, he flicked it with his thumb and the coin was tossed in the air quite too much.

"Aaahhh! I flipped it too high!" Tanjiro panicked but composed. "Heads! Let's make it heads! If it comes up heads, Kanao, you're going to follow your heart!"

Before the coin would land, a gust of wind blew by their direction and Tanjiro had lost sight of the coin.

_'What in the world?'_ BoBoiBoy felt the wind that passed by. _'Talk about inconvenient timing.'_

"Aahh! Huh? Where did it go?!" Tanjiro grew worried he might've lost it. "Aaaahh... Aaaahhh! Oh, is that it?!"

Luckily, he spotted the coin about to land and caught with the top part of his hand with his other covering it.

"Got it! Got it! Kanao!" Tanjiro then made his way to Kanao, still sitting down.

"Ready, Kanao?" He slowly opens his hand.

_'Heads, isn't it? Or at least, that's what I'm hoping to think it is.'_ BoBoiBoy leaned closer go get a good view of the coin.

When Tanjiro opened up the hand completely, it came up as Heads.

"It's heads!" Tanjiro cheered and bounced on the air. "Kanao!"

Kanao tried to get back her coin when she felt a pair of hands covering her own.

"Good luck!"

"Ah?!"

_'Hehehe! Smooth move, Tanjiro!'_ BoBoiBoy smirked at him.

"It's the heart that drives people. So, your heart can grow as strong as you want it to!"

Kanao is a little bewildered of what's happening all at once. A while ago, she was enjoying her scenery, then Tanjiro swooped in and gave her a change.

"All right! See you again someday!" Tanjiro runs off to the direction where BoBoiBoy is hiding. The latter wanted to walk away from making himself noticed but he wanted to see his reaction first upon finding him.

"H-How did you make it come up heads?!" Kanao stood up and yelled at Tanjiro.

Tanjiro swiftly turned around.

"Just by chance. And if it was tails, I was going to keep tossing it over and over until it came up heads!" He ended with a pure grin on his face.

That action alone reignited something inside of Kanao. Her eyes shone at his smile.

"Take ca—AAHH! BOBOIBOY?!" He almost fell down from discovering him hiding.

"Yo!" He flashed him a thumbs-up while grinning ear-to-ear.

"How long have you been there?!"

"Long enough to know you've been helping her with her issue. That was quite helpful of you." BoBoiBoy said truthfully.

Tanjiro frowned from the fact that he eavesdropped on them but chose not to pursue that or argue about. He then left to get himself ready, knowing of reminding the others they're leaving is done.

BoBoiBoy looked back once more at Kanao. She gazed at her coin for a while before enclosing it with both of her hands and putting it closely to her chest. His reminder echoed in her head.

He knew it would be good to let Tanjiro take care of Kanao's current problem about herself thanks to Yaya telling him about it the other day. Speaking of which, he wasn't done there.

There is still someone he needs to see before preparing.

* * *

A certain pink Demon Slayer was just done tending to her last batch of patients. She exited the wards and was on her way to her room to relax. On her way there, she heard hurried footsteps from one corner she was about to turn to and—

***Thud***

"Ow...!" She heard someone very familiar who responded the slight ache. She already knew who it was by the tone of the voice.

"BoBoiBoy? Is that you?" She picked herself up before going to the boy, still on the floor.

"Y-Yaya. Sorry about that." He accepted her hand and she pulled him up to his feet.

"Where are you going? Are you in a hurry for something?" She asked.

"I was looking for you, actually." He scratched the back of his head. "We are gonna go on our next mission right now. I just thought I would let you know since I know you are busy right now."

She corresponded with a light giggle. "Just so you know, I'm done with my chores at the moment and I was heading to my room to take a break. Until you came, of course."

He laughed nervously.

"By the way, did you happen to see a boy wearing a purple yukata and a scar on his face?" She asked to him in particular.

"Yeah, in fact, Tanjiro and I saw him earlier while we were informing the others. Why'd you ask?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing. I just thought he looked strange. I saw him going down a hallway and I tried talking to him but he ignored me."

"Perhaps we don't wanna get in his way for now. Besides, Tanjiro did something that probably pissed him off."

"Oh? What did he do?" She asked with her interest piqued.

"He almost broke that guy's arm for trying to hurt one of the hosts at the end of Final Selection."

"What? He did?"

He nodded.

"Oh." She paused before speaking again. "Anyways, I gotta go now to my room."

"Yeah, me too. I have to make sure my stuff is there in my room. Hopefully Inosuke doesn't do anything to my haori or something."

* * *

What stood before the four Demon Slayers are the huge gourds the young nurses had brought for them. It is their final test to see if the results of their Rehabilitation Training paid off.

Simultaneously, they blew into their own gourd with as much air as they can muster.

"You can do it! You can do it! You can do it!" The young nurses cheered them on, thus, fueling their determination to rupture the gourds.

As they did, their gourds as huge as a chair, exploded immediately.

"YAY!" The nurses applauded them for their efforts then offered them rice balls.

"Here you go."

"Thanks!" Tanjiro said. Inosuke already had his eyes set on the rice balls.

"Don't eat it now!" Zenitsu grabbed Inosuke's arm from getting the rice ball but failed.

"Thanks, girls." BoBoiBoy said as he grabbed a rice ball and chews on it.

"BoBoiBoy!" Zenitsu shouted.

"Hm?"

"Don't it eat right now!"

"Well, too late." He replied nonchalantly.

"Please go out and defeat tons of demons!" They said with happy expressions.

"We'll do our best!" Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy, in mid-bite, said.

"I told you not to eat it now!"

"Shut up!"

Meanwhile with Zenitsu and Inosuke, the blonde was quarreling with the boar to not eat the rice balls yet, resulting them in an argument.

"Mr. Tomioka!" Tanjiro ran straight to Giyu who is standing there beside the fence. BoBoiBoy soon followed with another rice ball in hand.

"Hi, Mr. Tomioka! Want one?" BoBoiBoy wanted to offer him a rice ball.

"No. Keep it." Giyu declined. BoBoiBoy had comical tears streaming down his face.

"Are you heading into battle now?" The Water Hashira asked.

"Yes!" They replied.

"I hear that both of you have mastered Total Concentration, Constant."

"Yes!"

"You should keep at it."

"Yes."

Despite the dull tone of his voice, BoBoiBoy can tell that he must be proud of their progress as Demon Slayers. It doesn't said in his eyes but he knew deep down, he cared about them.

"Mr. Tomioka..." Tanjiro began. "About Nezuko... Thank you very much. I had no idea you were putting your life on the line. I just don't know how I can ever thank you."

Giyu didn't say anything.

"I wanna thank Mr. Urokodaki as well. He was also putting his own life on the line for us too." BoBoiBoy added. "But hearing that you also vouch for us is very reassuring to me. Thank you very much, Mr. Tomioka."

"You can thank me by doing good work." He responded. "Our mission as Demon Slayers is to kill demons. That's all."

And just like that, he disappeared.

"Right!"

The cries from the young nurses brought their attention.

They're sad that they have to be away for a mission.

"You're all heartbroken to say goodbye to me, aren't you? I can stay behind if you want!" Zenitsu offered.

"Master Zenitsu, please try to learn how to be considerate and respectful of girls." Kiyo told him.

"Right." Zenitsu agreed to what she said.

"She's right, you know?" BoBoiBoy walked over to them. "How else will you impress Nezuko if you act like that?"

"Ooohhh!! You're right!" Zenitsu screamed. "I'll do whatever it takes for me to impress Nezuko-chan!"

"I'm feeling giddy." Inosuke said.

"But still, you guys do feel a little sad that I'm leaving, don't you?!"

"We are not sad!" They proclaimed.

"Thank you for all your help, girls." BoBoiBoy smiled warmly at them. "Without you guys, we wouldn't have been this strong right now. We owe you so much."

And that was the moment they bawled out of pure joy for helping out the ones they truly cared for. The young nurses rushed over to him for a tight hug while crying their eyes out. He pats them on the head.

"This guy always gets the special treatment!" Zenitsu grumbled, feeling jealous.

"Okay! You guys!" Tanjiro then leads the group onward. "We're heading out now!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Before he can take a step forward, he was stopped when a another person called out to him.

"Wait!"

BoBoiBoy turned around.

"Yaya?" He stood in front of her.

She smiled sweetly.

"We'll be waiting for you guys to return safely." She is standing right next with the rest of the young nurses.

"Don't worry! We'll be coming back soon!" BoBoiBoy flashed her a thumbs-up and a toothy grin.

She wanted to run up to him and entangled him with a quick hug before going. However, she resisted herself in doing so, lest she wants anyone to see them doing it. The thought alone made her embarrassed.

"Hey BoBoiBoy! What are you waiting for?!" Tanjiro yelled after his brother figure.

"Ah! I'll be there with you!" He yelled after him as well. "I'll see you again, Yaya! That's a promise!"

He runs back to his group. Inosuke smothering him, Zenitsu yelling at them, and Tanjiro laughing along with them.

"Please, come back soon, BoBoiBoy."

* * *

"Hey... Hey! Hey!" Inosuke asked worriedly. The group had arrived to a train station where the train they're going to be in is currently here.

"Wha..."

As for Inosuke, however.

"Wh-What..."

He had never seen a train before.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CREATURE?!" He exclaimed. "I bet this is that thing! The master of this land! The ruler of this land!"

"Inosuke, that's a train. It's not a creature or something." BoBoiBoy deadpanned.

Inosuke ran to where they at while gaining the crowd's attention.

"See how long it is? So intimidating! No mistake! It looks like it's asleep right now, but don't let your guard down!" Inosuke declared.

"Um, no. It's a train. Haven't you ever seen one before?" Zenitsu said.

"Shush! Calm down!" Inosuke covered Zenitsu's face with his hand.

"I'll lead the charge!" His hands were ready to grab the swords from his sheathe.

"Hold up, Inosuke!" Tanjiro called him before he can do so.

"You never know, it might be that guardian spirit of this land. Also you shouldn't attack all of a sudden." He said with sparkles floating around his person.

"No, didn't you hear me? It's a train." Zenitsu blankly said. "A railway train, all right? It's a vehicle for transporting people. You country bumpkin!"

He turned to BoBoiBoy. "You know what a train does right?"

"Hey, you're asking me?" BoBoiBoy points at himself. "Didn't I tell you once that I belonged somewhere that had advanced technology than this? Of course I know what a train does, you idiot."

Zenitsu sweatdropped. "Oh right. I forgot about that."

"Hm? A train? So, is that what the crow was talking about?" Tanjiro asked cluelessly, while Inosuke is walking to a certain distance away from them.

"What's his problem?" Zenitsu narrowed his eyes towards the boar.

"He's gonna do something stupid, I think." BoBoiBoy doesn't like where this is going.

His hunch was right.

"WOOOO! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Inosuke charged at the train with his head. "COMIN' THROUGH!"

"STOP IT! TALK ABOUT EMBARRASSING!" Zenitsu shouted.

"I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" BoBoiBoy also shouted.

They heard whistles coming from their right. "What are you doing?! Hey, you!"

A bunch of guards arrived on scene to know what's going on. Once they saw their swords, it meant dangerous for them.

"Hey, those guys have swords! The police! Call the police!"

"OH, CRAP! CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!" Zenitsu grabbed the boys and carried them. "RUN!"

Once they are out of sight, they quickly stopped to make a quick recovery from the commotion that they had made.

"Not one minute of getting started with our mission and you're already causing trouble for all of us, Inosuke!" BoBoiBoy screamed.

"Thanks to you, we went through hell, Inosuke! Say you're sorry!" Zenitsu yelled at the boar.

"Huh!? In the first place, why did we have to run from the police?!" Inosuke asked.

"Well, that's because we Demon Slayers aren't officially recognized by the government!" BoBoiBoy explained.

"Also, we can't just walk around in broad daylight carrying our swords because we might get into trouble like that again. Even if we explained about the demons, they wouldn't believe us and they'll think we're just making up stories." He finished.

"Even though we're working so hard?" Tanjiro couldn't believe of the new system he just heard.

"BoBoiBoy's right, you know. The government isn't going to believe anything not unless it interested them. Well, it can't be helped. For now, let's just hide our swords on our backs."

"Hahahahahaha!" Inosuke did as he heard and hid his swords behind his backs while doing a silly pose. This action weirded them out.

"You can totally see them. Put on some clothes, idiot."

In the midst of all this, the train begins its departure by signalling its engine cries. The wheels had begun to turn slowly.

"Guys! The train's about to leave now!" BoBoiBoy told them quickly.

"Are the police still around?!" Zenitsu asked.

"I don't think so. The train is so loud, I couldn't hear their footsteps." BoBoiBoy grits his teeth.

"We'll have no choice but to go even if they're around." Tanjiro said.

"YAAHAA! I'M TAKING YOU ON! MASTER OF THIS LAND!" Inosuke took the initial and ran towards the departing train.

"We should go, too!" Tanjiro also ran in front.

"Hey!"

"Okay, I guess we're doing this now! Let's go, Zenitsu!" BoBoiBoy grabbed his hand and ran to the rest of them running after the rear end of the train.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Inosuke was the first to jump in, following Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy.

"TANJIRO! BOBOIBOY! INOSUKE!" Zenitsu ran frantically and latched onto the rails.

"Zenitsu!" BoBoiBoy and the rest helped him pull up to the rear end of the train.

As of now, the train accelerated in the cold night, leaving behind a trail of dust in the wake of a new nightmare set upon them.

BoBoiBoy had a strange sense of nostalgia while being on this train. He knew he had ridden in one while he was still little. It didn't impede his thought on this mission, though. There are people who had disappeared, and it's up to them to figure out where the demon had gone to.

"YOOHOOHOOO! MAN, IT'S FAST!" Inosuke whistled. The wind blowing his mask.

"Tanjiro..." Zenitsu said while not looking at him.

"Hm?" He turned to look at him. Zenitsu mimicked.

"Are you sure about bringing Nezuko-chan along?" He asked. "Wouldn't the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters be the safest place for her?"

He understood. Zenitsu just wanted to make sure Nezuko to be safe and sound. If he were to leave Nezuko at the Demon Slayer Corps, the memories of his late family would resurface.

No, he will never live to see that happen again fo Nezuko. He swore to himself that he won't.

"Yeah, it's fine." Tanjiro smiled and looked behind him where the box is at, with Nezuko inside.

"Wherever we go, Nezuko and I will be together."

"Don't forget about me." BoBoiBoy had placed his hand on Tanjiro's shoulder. "I'll be at your side always, Tanjiro."

"Of course!" Tanjiro smile grew bigger. "You are also a part of our family now, BoBoiBoy. We're never going to be apart again."

Feeling as he finally found the thing he truly belong, he can't help but to bask it all in.

"Tanjiro..."

The dark redhead's caring expression just felt too much for him. He let out a smile to correspond to that.

"Nezuko..."

BoBoiBoy pats the box. Nezuko had felt the touch and leans more to it, feeling the warmth.

"Zenitsu..."

BoBoiBoy stared at Zenitsu and warmly smiled at him. The latter copied and returned the same gesture.

"Inosuke..."

The boar continued to examine the train with his own two eyes. The boy still smile at him even if the other is not seeing it.

"Yaya..."

His thoughts run back to the pink hijab girl. He promised himself that he'll be returning soon to her as soon as he is done with the mission.

"Everyone..."

All the people he knew and loved, flashed back in front of his eyes.

_His grandfather_, **Tok Aba.**

_His beloved father,_ **Amato**.

_His beloved Power Sphera,_ **Ochobot**.

_His best friend,_ **Gopal**.

_His Chinese friend,_ **Ying**.

_His rival,_ **Fang.**

_His captain,_ **Kaizo.**

_His Hero of Justice,_ **Papa Zola.**

_His sworn frienemy,_ **Adu Du and Probe.**

_His admiral,_ **Tarung.**

_His commander,_ **Koko Ci**

_His alien friends,_ **Sai and Shielda.**

_His pet cat,_ **Cattus and BellBot.**

_His master,_ **Tok Kasa.**

* * *

**_"My name is BoBoiBoy."_**

_He opens his eyes. A new future opened up before him._

**_"And I'm a Demon Slayer."_**


	33. Mugen Train Teaser

**ON BOARD**

_"To be able to die while dreaming..."_

**LIES A TWELVE KIZUKI**

_"Just how lucky are you?"_

**LOWER MOON ONE: ENMU**

_"You are falling... You are falling..."_

**IN THE INFINITY TRAIN**

_"...into a dream."_

* * *

**GO TO SLEEP**

_"Over 40 people have disappeared on this train! The Corps sent a few swordsmen, but then they all went silent!"_

**INTO AN ENDLESS DREAM**

_"YAHAHAHA! WHOA! WHOA! IT'S SO FAST! I'M GONNA GO RUN ALONGSIDE AND RACE TO SEE WHO'S FASTER! NYEHAHAHAHAHA!"_

**NEVER WAKE UP**

_"This sound... It's heavy... and menacing. Something's on this train, but what is it?"_

**FROM THIS HELLISH NIGHTMARE**

_"Wait... am I... dreaming...?_

* * *

**SURVIVE**

_"**Cyclone Breathing! First Form!**"_

_"Wake up! This isn't real! You have to wake up!"_

_"Tanjiro, look out!"_

**WIELD YOUR BLADE**

_"A Twelve Kizuki?!"_

_"Lord Inosuke's comin' through!"_

_"I'll protect you... Nezuko-chan!"_

**BRING AN END**

_"With the crimson flame blade of Rengoku, I shall burn you to the bone!"_

_"**Flame Breathing... First Form!**"_

_"**BoBoiBoy Thunderstorm!**"_

**TO THE NIGHTMARE**

_"Fight!"_

_"Below us!"_

_"Fight!"_

_"**BOBOIBOY...**"_

_"FIGHT!"_

_"**BLAZE!**"_

* * *

_**Demon Slayer: BoBoiBoy Galaxy**_

_**Mugen Train Arc**_

* * *

**Coming Soon**


End file.
